400 

CG 
v.l-8 


THE 


mm  TRACTS. 


CONSISTING  OP 


Page. 

No.      I.  THE  TEST,  OR  PARTIES  TRIED  BY  THEIR  ACTS 1 

"       II.  THE  CURRENCY 17 

"     III.  THE  TARIFF.. 33 

"     IV.  LIFE  OF  HENRY  CLAY 49 

"       V.  POLITICAL  ABOLITION -  65 

"     VI.  DEMOCRACY 81 

"    VII.  LABOR  AND  CAPITAL - 97 

"  VIII.  THE  PUBLIC  LANDS..                                                    -  113 


NEW  YORK: 
PUBLISHED  BY  GREELEY  &  McELRATH, 

TRIBUNE  BUILDINGS,  160,  NASSAU  STREET. 

1844. 
Price,  25  cents  single,  or  $16  per  100. 


[Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1844,  by  CALVIN  COLTON,  in  the  Clerk's  office  of 
the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  and  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York.] 

IP"  ALL  violations  of  copyright  are  forbidden. 


Look  at  the  BOTTOM  for  paging  of  the  SERIES. 

vM- 


ID"  The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  CIRCULAR  published  in  1843  : — 

New  York,  July,  1843. 
SIR: 

The  New  York  Whig  Trad  Committee,  organized  to  promote  the  dissemination  of  suit 
able  Tracts  icr  the  next  Presidential  Campaign,  respectfully  solicit  your  personal  co-opera 
tion.  The  committee  are  induced  to  believe,  that  a  general,  united,  well  sustained,  syste 
matic,  and  seasonable  ellbrt  of  this  kind,  will  be  of  great  importance  to  the  Whig  cause. 

With  the  great  Statesman  of  the  West  as  our  leader,  and  with  the  principles  he  holds 
in  common  with  the  Whig  party  inscribed  on  our  banner,  we  may  confidently  expect  to  find 
the  people  of  the  country  with  us  in  1844,  as  they  were  in  1840.  It  only  requires  that  we 
be  faithful  and  prompt  in  setting  before  fliem  the /ads  and  reasons  that  should  govern  us  all. 

The  Committee  herewith  send  a  specimen  or  two  of  a  series  of  Tracts  by  "  JUNIUS," 
author  of  "the,  Crisis  of  the  Country"  in  1840,  and  take  leave  to  urge  upon  yourself  and 
your  political  associates,  a  prompt  adoption  of  measures  to  obtain  and  circulate  them  among 
the  people  of  your  neighborhood,  parish,  town,  and  county.  The  Committee  would  sug 
gest  the  expediency  of  forming  Sub-committees,  and  establishing  Depots,  as  centres  of  infor 
mation  and  organs  of  distribution,  where  Tracts  and  other  publications  can  always  be  had. 
The  Tracts  by  "  Junius,"  which  the  Committee  especially  recommend,  can  be  had  in  any 
quantity,  by  orders,  with  remittances,  direct  on  GREELEY  &  MCELRATH,  Tribune  Office, 
New  York. 

To  reap,  we  must  sow. 

Inbehalf  of  the  New  York  Whig  Tract  Committee,  very  respectfully  your  obedient  servants, 

HAMILTON  FISH,  Chairman. 
A.  W.  BRADFORD,  Secretary. 


ID"  The  following  is  part  of  a  CIRCULAR,  from  the  same  Committee  in  1844  : — 

New  York,  January,  1844. 

The  New  York  Whig  Tract  ^Committee  would  respectfully  suggest  to  their  fellow 
laborers  in  the  Whig  cause,  whether  it  would  not  be  well  to  undertake,  by  a  systematic 
effort,  to  put  the  TRACTS  of  Junius,  or  such  of  them  as  are  best  fitted  for  particular  locali 
ties,  into  the  hands  of  every  voter  ivho  may  be  willing  to  read  them.  The  expense  is  so  small 
that  most  people  would  buy  them,  if  they  had  a  chance,  and  a  part  of  the  funds  raised  for 
the  cause,  might  be  well  applied  for  gratuitous  distribution  among  those  who  only  require 
information  to  be  induced  to  vote  the  Whig  Ticket.  If  the  various  Whig  organizations  of 
the  States,  counties,  and  towns,  would  establish  Depots,  have  an  adequate  supply  of  the  Tracts 
constantly  on  hand,  and  take  pains  to  accomplish  the  ends  suggested,  it  is  believed,  that 
much  the  largest  part  of  the  expense  would  be  defrayed  by  an  actual  sale  to  those  who 
would  be  glad  to  purchase  them.  In  this  way,  it  would  not  only  be  practicable,  but  easy, 
to  send  these  Tracts  to  every  Log  Cabin  in  the  land. 

HAMILTON  FISH,  Chairman. 

A.  W.  BRADFORD,  Secretary. 

10*  It  is  respectfully  suggested,  that  Whig  booksellers,  and  other  merchants,  throughout 
the  Union,  might  do  much  for  the  dissemination  of  these  documents,  by  keeping  them  on 
hand  for  sale. 


THE 

JUIIUS  TRACTS. 
No.  I. 


Ui 


MARCH.]  PUBLISHED  EVERY  SECOND  MONTH.  f!843* 


THE   TEST; 

OR, 

PARTIES   TRIED  BY  THEIR  ACTS, 

BY  JUNIUS. 

Author  of  "THE  CRISIS  OF  THE  COUNTRY,"  and  other  Tracts, of  1840. 

Price,  3  cents  single,  $2  50  cts.  per  100,  or  $20  per  1000. 

TRACTS  ALREADY  PUBLISHED. 

No.     I.  THE  TEST,  OR  PARTIES  TRIED  BY  THEIR  ACTS. 
«     II.  THE  CURRENCY. 
«    III.  THE   TARIFF. 
«    IV.  LIFE  OF  HENRY  CLAY. 
«      V.  POLITICAL  ABOLITION. 

07"  NOTICE:  Committees,  Clubs,  and  all  persons  desirous  of  obtaining  these 
Tracts,  are  requested  to  send  their  orders,  with  remittances,  to  the  publishers,  Greeley 
$  McElrath,  Tribune  Office,  New  York,  who  will  promptly  forward  them  to  any  part  of  the 
Union,  as  may  be  directed.  Remittances  by  mail,  post  paid  or  free,  at  the  risk  of  the  propri 
etor.  Price  for  any  one  of  the  series,  $2  50  cts.  per  100  copies,  or  $20  per  1000. 
H7"  Postmasters  are  authorized  by  law  to  make  remittances  under  their  frank. 


NEW  YORK: 
PUBLISHED  BY  GREELEY  &  McELRATH, 

TRIBUNE  BUILDINGS,  160  NASSAU  STREET. 

1844. 


(Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1843,  by  M.  McMichael,    in  the  Clerk's  office  of 
the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  and  for  the    Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania.] 

10"  EXTRACTS  in  Newspapers,  for  purpose  of  review,  are  allowed,  but  the  republication  of  this 

Tract  is  forbidden. 

[One  Sheet  Periodical,  Postage  under  100  miles  1£  cents  ;  over  100  miles  2J.] 
1 


THE  TWENTY-SEVENTH  (WHIG)  CONGRESS. 

Its  position. 

IT  was  a  singular  one  in  history — perfectly  so  in  the  annals  of  this  country.  The 
Government  had  been  for  a  long-  time  in  the  hands  of  their  political  opponents,  till 
a  once  prosperous  nation  had  been  reduced  to  an  extremity  of  misfortune,  and  rose 
at  last  to  demand  a  change  in  public  policy.  With  a  majority  unparalleled,  the 
Whigs  came  into  power,  and  a  suffering  people  looked  to  them  for  relief.  It  was 
fair  They  should,  for  it  had  been  promised,  though  the  expectations  of  immediate 
result  were  doubtless  unreasonable. 

The  first  inauspicious  blow. 

None  can  deny  that  the  death  of  their  Chieftain  was  an  astounding  event.  It 
was  striking  the  sun  from  the  political  heaven. 

The  second  blow. 

The  constitutional  successor  was  little  known,  altogether  untried,  and  was  never 
expected  to  be  called  to  that  place.  Diffidence  towards  him  was  the  first  state  of 
feeling ;  concern  the  next ;  which  ended  in  utter  and  hopeless  disappointment.  All 
know  how  that  turned  out ;  and  we  need  not  dwell  on  the  painful  history. 

An  unforeseen  result. 

In  the  constitution  of  our  Government,  the  Executive  occupies  a  commanding 
position  in  relation  to  the  other  branches.  It  seems  never  to  have  been  anticipated, 
that  he  could  be  opposed  to  the  legislature  appointed  by  the  same  constituency, 
nor  would  such  an  event  occur,  if  good  faith  in  these  high  relations  could  at  all 
times  be  relied  on.  It  is  manifest,  however,  that  an  Executive,  not  acting  in  har 
mony  with  the  legislative  branch  of  the  Government,  but  opposing  it,  is  a  derange 
ment  of  the  machinery  as  to  its  intended  operation.  His  power  is  sufficient  to 
paralyze  legislation,  and  to  nullify  any  system  of  policy  aimed  to  be  established  by 
legislative  functions. 

A  thing  to  be  considered. 

Since  it  has  been  discovered,  that  the  second  on  the  Presidential  ticket  of  1840, 
who  succeeded  as  principal  by  the  death  of  the  Chief,  is  not  the  man  he  was  taken 
for,  but  utterly  opposed  to  the  great  and  leading  principles  of  the  party  that  raised 
him  to  power  —  if  he  has  any  principles  at  all  —  it  must  be  considered,,,  that  the 
legislative  branch  of  the  Government,  the  majority  of  whom  were  true  to  those 
principles,  were  rendered  powerless  as  to  that  system  of  policy  that  was  designed 
to  be  established  by  the  political  revolution  of  1840. 

The  question  to  be  tried. 

It  will  follow,  therefore,  that  the  27th  Congress  cannot  fairly  be  put  on  trial  for 
not  having  done  impossibilities,  but  only  for  what  they  could  do  and  have  done,  under 
the  peculiar  circumstances  in  which  they  were  placed,  to  redeem  the  pledges  by 
which  they  were  bound. 

The  difficulties  of  the  Whig  Congress. 

In  the  grave  of  General  Harrison  was  buried  the  Whig  administration.  Could 
any  one  expect,  that  the  effects  of  many  years  misrule  could  be  repaired  in  thirty 
days  1  There  was  not  time  to  begin  to  do  it,  before  the  adverse  winds  of  Executive 
power  were  blowing  strong  against  the  tide  of  reform.  Treason  was  hatched,  and 
began  to  peep  and  strut  abroad,  before  the  successor  of  the  Fallen  had  been  in  his 
seat  ten  days. 

Another  difficulty. 

The  expectations  of  the  nation  were  great,  and  the  people  demanded  relief 
epeedily,  earlier  than  in  any  case  it  could  possibly  be  obtained.  A  country  which 
for  an  eighth  of  a  century  had  been  operated  upon  by  causes  of  ruin,  till  it  was 
prostrate,  could  not  be  raised  again  suddenly. 

Another. 

Nor  was  it  possible  for  Congress  alone  to  do  the  work,  against  a  plotting,  sub- 

2 


3 

verting,  thwarting,  and  opposing  Executive.  They  were  paralyzed,  and  their 
power  of  restoring  public  prosperity  was  stricken  down.  Even  their  investigating 
committees,  whose  functions  were  designed  to  ferret  out  corruption,  were  met  at 
the  threshold  of  their  undertaking  by  the  agents  and  abettors  of  corruption,  who 
held  in  their  hands  the  keys  of  the  knowledge  that  was  sought  for,  and  whom  tho 
Executive  still  retained  in  their  places,  thus  refusing  to  furnish  the  necessary 
facilities  of  reform.  Deep  and  large  as  the  fountains  of  corruption  that  have  been 
laid  open,  are,  it  is  believed  that  most  of  them,  by  this  cause,  yet  lie  concealed. 

The  difficulties  encountered  on  the  currency  question. 

All  know  that  this  was  the  question  on  which  the  country  had  been  wrecked . 
that  it  was  the  great  question.     And  all  know  with  what  patience,  self-torture,  and 
self-immolation,  the  Whigs  of  the  27th  Congress  waded  through  the  Extra  Ses 
sion,  struggling  with  ceaseless  though  useless  endeavour,  to  save  the  party  and  the 
country  from  such  unexampled  perfidy.     Giving  up  half,  or  more  than  half,  and 
trying  in  every  possible  way  to  surmount  the  doom  that  was  cast  in  their  face, 
once,  twice,  were  their  large  concessions  baffled  by  the  arbitrary  interposition  of 
the  veto  power.     What  they  could,  they  attempted ;  what  they  could,  they  did. 
"  Who  does  the  best  his  circumstance  allows, 
Does  well,  acts  nobly,  angels  could  no  more." 

The  Exchequer. 

And  why  did  not  the  Whigs  of  the  27th  Congress  adopt  that1?  Can  it  have 
been  forgotten,  with  what  argument  and  eloquence  the  vices  and  tendencies  of  the 
Subtreasury,  political  and  other,  were  denounced  by  the  Wliigs  in  the  campaign 
of  1840,  and  how  their  reasons  prevailed  with  the  people  ]  Is  it  not  in  equally 
vivid  remembrance,  that  the  Subtreasury  was  repealed  by  popular  demand  and 
acclamation,  as  conceded  by  its  friends  and  advocates  ]  But  the  Whigs  believe, 
and  have  demonstrated,  in  the  report  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  con 
temporaneous  with  the  vote  of  193  to  18,  which  sealed  the  doom  of  the  Exchequer- 
m  that  document  they  have  demonstrated,  that  it  has  all  the  vices  of  the  Subtreasury, 
and  many  more  to  boot;  that  it  is  the  most  hideous  government  bank  scheme  that 
could  well  be  conceived ;  that,  if  carried  into  effect,  it  would  enhance  Executive 
power  to  an  extent  hazardous  to  liberty ;  and  that,  in  the  hands  of  an  unprincipled, 
aspiring  Executive,  of  strong  and  influential  character,  it  might  be  seized  upon  for 
the  overthrow  of  all  liberty,  and  for  the  establishment  of  despotism.  It  is  futile  to 
rely  on  the  power  of  repeal,  when  the  whole  history  of  our  Government  shows,  that 
the  Executive  will  can  defeat  any  movement  in  the  form  of  legislation.  The  people 
cannot  contend  against  this  "  fixed  Constitutional  fact,"  except  by  a  revolution ; 
and  the  only  safe  way  is  to  keep  out  of  its  power. 

The  Whigs,  with  good  reason  and  sound  argument,  had  denounced  the  Subtrea 
sury  as  a  Government  Bank  in  embryo,  while  it  was  in  the  process  of  incubation, 
and  opposed  it  as  such  when  it  was  hatched,  and  because  it  was  such— because, 
confessedly,  it  provided  a  good  currency  for  office-holders,  but  for  them  only,  and 
left  a  bad  currency  for  the  people.  How,  then,  could  they,  in  the  face  of  such  facts, 
and  in  fealty  to  the  principles  avowed  by  them  in  1840— principles  so  often  and  so 
widely  promulged,  and  still  maintained— how  could  they  adopt  the  same  institu 
tion — identically  the  same,  except  that  it  was  presented  in  a  perfect  stage  of  matu 
rity,  and  therefore  in  its  most  objectionable  form ! 

But  what  is  a  Government  Bank  1 

It  is  Government  stepping  aside  from  its  appropriate  functions,  and  setting  up  in 
trade ;  for  banking  is  nothing  more  or  less  than  trading  in  money.  It  is,  so  far, 
laying  aside  the  proper  uses  of  Government,  and  usurping  the  rights  of  citizens — 
commercial  rights.  A  Government  managing  banking  concerns,  is  a  Commercial 
Factory.  No  Government  ever  went  into  trade,  in  money  or  any  thing  else,  with 
out  injury  to  the  rights  of  citizens ;  or  with  gain  to  itself,  except  in  the  augmenta 
tion  of  its  power,  which  is  always  its  object.  It  is  sure  to  sacrifice  the  commercial 
capital  invested. 

The  insurmountable  objection. 

It  is  a  very  important  point  of  difference,  that  a  Government  Bank  has  no  Master 


because  it  is  a  part  of  Government,  and  an  arm  of  its  power ;  whereas  all  other 
banks  have  a  Master  in,  the  Government.  A  national  Government  Bank,  to  answer 
the  purposes  of  such  an  institution,  aims  to  regulate  and  control  the  currency  of  the 
country,  and  in  doing  that,  it — that  is,  the  Government — brings  within  its  power,  to 
deal  with  at  pleasure,  every  possible  commercial  or  trading  interest  of  the  country, 
from  that  of  banking  in  general,  down  to  the'vocation  of  a  grinder  of  knives  or  a 
retailer  of  brickdust.  It  would  be  a  supreme  commercial  power,  in  the  hands  of  the 
supreme  political  power,  controlled  by  none,  but  controlling  all,  itself  master  in 
trade,  and  master  of  the  authorities  under  which  all  trade  is°  carried  on.  This  is 
the  sort  of  thing  which  the  27th  Congress  rejected-—  spurned,  as  in  duty  bound,  if 
they  would  respect  themselves,  arid  have  the  respect  of  the  American  people. 

THE  EXTRAVAGANCE  AND  CORRUPTION  OF  THE  LATE  ADMINISTRATION. 

WE  begin  with  Congress,  where  reform  in  Government  must  first  begin,  if  it 
besrins  at  all.    The  people  will  doubtless  be  astonished  at  the  extra  vacancies  of  this 


people  will  doubtless  be  astonished  at  tne  extravagancies  of  this 
body  for  a  few  years  past,  in  the  administration  of  its  own  internal  economy,  and 
at  the  corruption  practised  and  tolerated  in  its  own  bosom.  Could  a  body,  prac 
tising  such  things,  and  conniving  at  such  things,  be  expected  to  institute  reform  for 
other  departments  of  the  government  1 

Cost  of  the  printing,  binding,  engraving,  and  lithographing  of  Congress. 

This  is,  in  any  case,  a  large  item  of  expense.  The  subject  had  been  under 
investigation  for  two  or  three  years,  having  been  started  by  the  Whigs  while  in  the 
minority,  and  in  1842  much  information  appeared  in  the  form  of  Congressional 
reports,  to  which  we  are  indebted  for  the  following  results : 

It  was  found  upon  investigation,  that  the  average  annual  expenses,  under  the 
above  general  head,  were  $261,459,  and  that  the  average  annual  saving  under  the 
new  system,  proposed  and  recommended  by  the  Committees,  would  be  $132,761; 
and  consequently,  that  the  average  annual  unnecessary  expense,  or  waste  in  this 
item,  is  equal  to  this  saving,  viz.  $132,761.  (See  Senate  Doc.  No.  332,  2d  Sess. 
27th  Congress.)  In  other  words,  the  waste  is  50  per  cent,  on  the  cost.  That  is 
to  say,  the  Government  not  only  permitted  such  extravagance  to  grow  up  in  its 
own  domicile,  not  only  tolerated  it  for  a  long  succession  of  years,  but  sanctioned  it 
by  solemn  acts  of  legislation,  to  provide  for  it. 

Contingent  expenses  of  Congress. 

This  is  an  atrocious  item  in  the  history  of  the  past,  and  shows  how  little  depen- 
dance  could  be  placed  in  a  national  legislature  for  general  economy  and  purity,  that 
would  be  guilty  of  such  a  lack  of  both  these  useful  qualities  in  the  management  of 
their  own  household. 

The  custom  of  supplying  members  of  Congress  with  stationery,  &c.,  or  the 
cust  tti  of  members  voting  themselves  a  supply  out  of  the  people's  money,  on  a 
rea&~"nable  scale,  might  not  be  very  objectionable.  It  would  be  thought  mean  to 
oppose  it,  though  when  well  paid,  they  might  as  well  afford  to  provide  for  them 
selves  as  the  people  do  in  their  own  case.  But  the  extent  of  wasteful  prodi 
gality  to  which  this  custom  at  last  arrived,  will  no  doubt  awaken  some  surprise  in 
the  minds  of  the  people  who  paid  for  it  all,  and  whose  private  habits  of  economy  in 
such  matters,  are  somewhat  different. 

For  stationery  used  by  the  25th  Congress,  the  first  under  Mr.  Van  Buren,  we 
find  such  items  as  the  following  in  the  report  of  one  of  the  Committees  on  retrench 
ment  (by  Mr.  Summers),  2d  Session,  27th  Congress,  House  Doc.  No.  30 : 


For  3,079  reams  envelope  paper, 
"   3,610     do.     quarto  post, 
"   2,316    do.     foolscap,    - 
"      172    do.    note,  ... 
"   493  gross  of  steel  pens, 
«   83,700  quills, 
M  making  of  pens,    ... 
"   sealing-wax, 
"  tape,      -        - 
44   106  doz.  penknives, 

$12,603 
21,059 
9,951 
1,559 
4,569 
3,953 
448 
3,931 
2,739 
2,602 

25 
25 
25 
50 
39 
12 
00 
62 
30 
00 

For  wafers,          ... 
"   ink,  15  barrels, 

-      $1,332 

528 
921 

01 
50 
00 
00 
00 
00 
72 
87 

78 

"   seals,      -        -        -• 
"   pencils, 
"   folders,          ... 
"  twine,    •••;,•'• 
"    1,197  memorandum  books, 

Total,       - 

1,080 
562 
615 
312 

746 

.    $69.514 

Which,  divided  among  242  merribers  of  the  House,  shows,  that  the  cost  for  station 
ery,  for  each  member  of  the  25th  Congr*ess,  for  a  period  usually  about  nine  months, 
was  $287.25. 

How  much  is  the  average  annual  cost  to  professional  men,  lawyers1,  for  example, 
for  the  above-named  articles  of  stationery7?  The  writer  of  this  Tract  thinks  his 
occasions  for  these  may  perhaps  be  equal  to  those  of  a  member  of  Congress,  and  he 
believes  they  do  not  cost  him  over  $2  J  a  year — for  nine  months  $15 — which  leaves 
$272.25  for  each  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  the  25th  Congress, 
unaccounted  for  to  the  people — in  all  $65,884.78 — a  pretty  round  sum  of  waste  for 
one  branch  of  the  national  legislature,  on  the  above-named  articles. 

How  many  penknives  did  they  use  severally  ]  Divide  1C6  dozen,  or  1272,  by 
242,  and  we  have  the  answer  thus — 5T602^.  The  average  price  of  these  penknives, 
it  will  be  seen,  was  $2.04  and  a  fraction  each,  which,  of  course,  makes  a  bill  of  a 
little  less  than  $12,  to  supply  each  member  of  the  25th  Congress  in  penknives  for 
nine  months.  His  sealing-wax  cost  somewhat  over  $16;  his  quarto  post  paper,  $80 
and  some  cents ;  and  so  on. — We  leave  the  rest  with  the  curious. 

We  suppose  the  excessive  price  of  these  articles  results  in  the  same  way,  by 
which  the  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  same  Congress,  Mr.  Gar 
land,  contracted  with  a  favorite  of  the  President,  Editor  of  "  The  Democratic  Re 
view,"  to  furnish  stationery  to  the  amount  of  $25,000,  whereon  the  said  favorite 
cleared  a  profit  of  $7,000  to  himself,  over  and  above  a  fair  profit  in  trade,  as  was 
proved  and  reported  to  the  27th  Congress.  In  this  way,  of  course,  a  penknife, 
which,  in  a  fair  market,  costs  $1.50,  would  cost  the  people  over  $2 ;  and  so  with 
all  the  other  articles.  But  when  there  happen  to  be  two  intermediate  agents,  each 
to  make  an  extra  profit  of  33 J  per  cent,  on  the  same  articles,  that  helps  to  run  up 
a  bill  fast.  It  would  be  difficult  to  account  for  these  bills,  except  in  such  ways. 

It  appears  from  Mr.  Summers'  Report,  before  referred  to,  that  the  whole  contin 
gent  expenses  of  the  House  of  Representatives  rose  from  $106,000,  in  the  18th 
Congress,  till  they  attained  a  maximum  in  the  25th  Congress,  of  $595,000,  increas 
ing  nearly  6  to  1  in  sixteen  years. 

It  also  appears,  that  the  contingent  expenses  of  the  Senate  for  the  year  1838, 
under  Mr.  Van  Buren,  were  greater,  by  the  sum  of  $86,000,  than  for  1828,  under 
Mr.  J.  Q.  Adams ;  and  greater,  by  $24,000,  than  for  the  whole  four  years,  under 
Mr.  Adams.  A  like  result  turns  "up  in  comparing  the  contingent  expenses  of  the 
House  for  the  same  periods ;  viz.  that  the  aggregate,  during  Mr.  Adams's  four 
years,  was  less,  by  $89,000,  than  the  same  item  for  the  one  year,  1838,  under  Mr. 
Van  Buren.  (Compare  No.  17,  House  Doc.  1st  Sess.  26th  Congress,  with  No.  39, 
House  Doc.  1st  Sess.  24th  Congress.) 

FINANCIAL  PRODIGALITIES  OF  THE  FLORIDA  WAR. 

The  profuse  and  wasteful  expenditures  of  public  money,  as  partially  disclosed 
under  this  head,  and  one  or  two  others,  might  alone  account  for  the  startling 
expenses  of  Government  during  the  two  administrations  preceding  the  one  now 
current,  as  compared  with  our  former  financial  history  and  the  level  of  public 
expenditures  as  reduced  by  the  27th  Congress.  We  have  room  only  for  a  few  quo 
tations  from  the  volumes  of  public  documents  on  this  and  other  kindred  topics, 
which  may  serve  as  a  clue  to  the  rest. 

Extravagant  hire  of  steamboats  and  other  vessels. 

From  the  beginning  of  1836  to  1841,  the  number  of  steamboats  and  sail  craft 
employed  in  the  transportation  service  for  the  Florida  war,  was  737,  for  which  a 
very  extravagant  hire  was  generally  paid.  About  fifty  of  these  are  named  in  House 
Document  No.  458,  2d  Session  27th  Congress,  and  their  rates  of  hire  specified, 
We  give  the  following  as  specimens : — The  steamboat,  John  Crowell,  estimated  to 
be  worth  $15,000,  was  hired  at  $300  a  day,  provided  for  and  insured,  till  the 
ompensation  amounted  to  $82,555.  The  Reindeer,  42  days,  at  $175  a  day — being 
$7,351).  The  Georgiana,  32  days,  at  $200  a  day— $6,400.  The  Charleston,  10 
months,  at  $4,400  a  month— $44,000.  The  Mobile  was  paid  $11,625  for  25  days. 
The  Minerva,  73  days,  at  $300  a  day— $21,900.  The  Merchant,  85  days,  at  $450 
a  day— $38,250. 

Many  other  vessels  were  hired  for  short  periods,  at  rates,  which,  on  settlement, 

5 


6 

quadrupled  the  price  at  which  they  might  have  been  purchased  in  the  outset,  so 
that  much  money  would  have  been  savedj  if  they  had  been  bought  and  manned, 
and  then  burnt  in  the  end. 

The  cost  of  a  wagon. 

Grant's  concentric  wheel  wagon  cost  the  Government  $2,363.50,  of  which  Mr. 
Grant  was  paid  $654.50  for  superintending  the  construction  of  it,  and  $15  was 
paid  for  engraving  plates  on  the  wheels,  to  travel  in  the  sands  of  Florida.  Ibid. 

Cost  of  206  oxen. 

The  purchase  and  delivery  of  206  oxen  was  made  to  cost  $12,187.20  —  for  the 
oxen,  $9,170.00;  to  the  agent,  $1,980.00;  and  for  expenses  in  the  transaction, 
$1,037.20.  Ibid. 

Cost  of  house-rent  and  saddles. 

A  house  at  Picolata  was  rented  at  $3,600  a  year.  For  30  saddles,  $50  each 
was  paid.  For  12  do.  $87.50  each.  Ibid. 

At  Pilatka,  in  1840,  when  the  end  of  the  war  was  everyday  expected,  more  than 
$100,000  was  expended  in  public  buildings,  on  private  lands,  when  there  was 
government  land  hard  by.  It  is  of  course  sacrificed. 

Probable  collusion  in  fraud  on  the  public. 

The  foregoing  items  of  extravagance  are  hastily  selected  from  heaps  of  evidence 
of  the  same  class  brought  before  the  27th  Congress,  by  which  it  is  proved,  that  the 
Florida  war  was  generally  carried  on,  in  whole  and  in  particular,  at  a  rate  of  most 
astounding  prodigality.  All  the  public  agents  in  these  transactions,  from  the 
Treasury  Department  at  Washington,  down  to  the  last  recipient  of  the  public 
money,  were  perfectly  familiar  with  this  daily  round  of  facts,  for  a  course  of  years. 
Can  it  be  imagined,  that  in  any  state  of  society,  however  corrupt,  such  extrava 
gance  and  waste  would  be  tolerated,  under  the  eyes  of  so  many  agents,  if  there 
was  no  collusion  among  them,  and  if  they  did  not  all  profit  more  or  less  by  it  7  Do 
not  these  facts  reasonably  account  for  the  protracted  period  of  that  war,  when  so 
much  money  was  to  be  made  out  of  it  by  all  engaged  1 

Great  frauds  in  the  removal  of  Indians. 

The  removal  of  16,533  Creek  Indians  was  made  to  cost  the  Government 
$590,448.58.  It  is  proved  pretty  fairly,  by  the  Committee  on  Public  Expenditures, 
that  these  16,533  Indians  might  have  been  removed  for  $186,530,  thus  making 
a  clear  saving,  in  this  single  transaction,  honestly  done,  of  $303,909.42 — nearly  two 
thirds  of  the  actual  cost.  (Doc.  No.  458.) 

It  is  proved  in  House  Document  No.  454,  2d  Sess.  27th  Congress,  that  Captain  Buckner 
was  paid  $37,749  fordoing  nothing,  after  having  been  paid  a  very  exorbitant  price  for  what  he  did 
do,  in  removing  Indians;  —  and  the  most  remarkable  part  of  the  disclosure  is,  that  a  high  public 
functionary  received  $18,000  of  this  as  a  loan  from  Capt.  Buckner,  apparently  for  his  company 
and  presence  at  the  Treasury  Department  when  the  requisition  was  being  made  out.  Whether 
such  company  silenced  the.  scruples  of  the  Auditor,  this  deponent  cannot  say.  The  evidence 
before  the  Committee  standeth  thus:  Witness  (Capt.  Buckner)  asked — "What  he  could  do  for 
nim?"  Ans.  "Witness  could  loan  him  some  money.  Whereupon  witness  agreed  to  loan  him 
$18,000." 

All  these  accounts  were  allowed  at  the  Treasury  Department ! 

It  is  also  proved  that  Captain  Collins  was  entrusted  with  large  sums  of  money, 
as  disbursing  agent,  to  the  aggregate  -of  $582,290,  after  he  had  proved  himself  a 
defaulter  to  one-third  of  this  amount,  and  that  the  Government  lost  by  him  in  the 
end  the  sum  of  $215,369.  If  settlements  had  been  insisted  on  according  to  law,  it 
would  have  been  impossible,  in  any  case  of  the  most  wilful  fraud,  to  lose  more  than 
a  small  fraction  of  this  amount. — (See  No.  453,  House  Doc.,  2d  Sess.,  27th  Congress.) 

Remarks  on  these  facts. 

Speaking  moderately,  it  may  be  presumed,  from  the  volumes  of  evidence  of  this 
description  that  have  been  filed  by  the  27th  Congress,  that  by  an  honest  and  prudent 
administration  of  these  affairs,  the  Florida  war  might  have  been  brought  to  a  close, 
and  the  Indian  tribes  all  removed,  at  one  half  the  actual  cost  to  the  country. 
Moreover,  from  what  has  transpired,  there  is  also  a  reasonable  presumption  that  the 
period  of  the  Florida  war  might  have  been  abridged  by  several  years. 

6 


Can  any  one  suppose  there  was  no  collusion,  no  connivance  among  those  who 
had  the  responsibility  in  these  great  concerns,  for  the  advantage,  pecuniary  or 
political,  that  might  accrue  to  them  personally  ]  With  some  the  profit  was  pecu 
niary,  with  others  political. 

Defalcation  and  frauds  under  the  Subtreasury  system. 

We  mean  the  system  of  entrusting  the  public  funds  in  the  hands  of  individuals, 
instead  of  keeping  them  in  banks.  It  is  not  easy  to  collect  an  exact  account  of 
this,  but  from  the  reports  of  Mr.  Secretary  Woodbury  —  a  reluctant  witness  —  of 
1834,  1888,  and  1889,  on  this  subject,  we  obtain  the  following  result  from  his 
somewhat  mystified  statements,  in  connexion  with  other  facts  that  have  transpired, 
viz :  —  that  the  Government,  since  its  foundation,  had  lost  by  banks,  $857,890.85 ; 
and  by  individuals,  in  the  various  forms  of  trust,  about  $15,000,000. 

It  is  now  ascertained,  that  the  loss  by  individuals  in  Mr.  Van  Buren's  four  years, 
as  the  result  of  his  system  of  Subtreasury,  was  about  $5,000,000,  if  we  include 
what  has  since  been  developed  under  the  operation  of  that  system,  and  through  his 
appointees ;  whereas,  the  first  Whig  defalcator  in  public  trust,  for  two  years,  is  yet 
to  be  found  out.  The  annual  aggregate  of  frauds,  therefore,  of  Mr.  Van  Buren'a 
Subtreasury  system,  may  be  put  down  at  $1,250,000.  The  annual  aggregate  of 
like  frauds  by  the  Whigs,  so  far  as  has  transpired — 0. 

It  is  somewhat  remarkable,  that  the  account  between  the  Government  and  the 
United  States  Bank,  as  to  loss  and  profit  in  all  transactions  for  forty  years,  stands 
thus: — Loss  to  Government — 0;  profit  to  Government — $1,100,000,  for  premium 
on  stocks,  besides  dividends,  and  the  gratuitous  functions  of  the  bank  as  fiscal  agent 
of  the  Government  for  the  said  forty  years. 

A  recollection. 

All  must  remember  the  disclosures  forced  from  Mr.  Secretary  Woodbury,  under 
the  late  administration,  regarding  the  frequency,  character,  and  great  amount  of 
defalcations  under  the  Subtreasury,  and  the  concurrent  proofs  brought  before  the 
public  of  Executive  indulgence  towards  the  offenders,  in  continuing  them  in  office 
after  their  defalcations  were  proved — all  for  partisan,  political  objects. 

Frauds  in  tJie  New  York  Custom  House. 

The  enormities  that  have  been  practised  in  this  "  Seat  of  Customs,"  are  prodigious.  The  defal 
cations  of  Swartwout,  Hoyt,  &  Co. — amounting  to  about  one  million  and  a  half,  seem  to  have  veiled 
the  minor  frauds.  In  three  years,  1838,  '39,  and  '40,  George  A.  Wasson  received  $94,430.92  for 
cartage  and  labor — nearly  half  for  cartage — effected  chiefly  by  charging  for  each  package,  31^ 
to  50  cents,  which  was  the  price  for  a  load — in  that  way  making  a  load  run  up  to  jive  or  ten  dol 
lars,  according  to  the  number  of  packages.  The  Stationery  and  printing,  under  Mr.  Hoyt,  for 
1838,  '39,  '40,  and  1st  quarter  of  1841,  cost  $51,703.22  —  averaging  $275.76  a  year  to  each 
person  employed,  being  nearly  double  the  average  cost  of  stationery  for  each  member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  the  25th  Congress,  that  being  $287  for  2  years.  It  was  by  allowing 
$22  a  gross  for  steel  pens,  when  they  could  be  bought  for  $1.50;  $3.50  a  peck  for  sand,  the  fair 
price  being  12J  cents;  $80  a  ream  for  paper,  worth  $15;  $12  for  1  card  of  Perryan  pens,  or 
$1.50  for  each  pen;  &c.  &c.  &c.  No  difficulty  in  making  it  up  in  that  way. 

The  revenue  collected  in  the  first  year  of  Jonathan  Thompson,  1825,  was  $15,754,827  ;  em 
ployed  142  men,  at  a  cost  of  $211,471 ;  or  at  the  rate  of  1  34-100  per  cent.  The  revenue  col 
lected  by  Mr.  Hoyt,  in  1840,  was  $7,591,760;  men  employed  470,  at  a  cost  of  $563,829;  or  at 
the  rate  of  7  42-100  per  cent. 

In  addition  to  the  Collector's  Salary,  Mr.  Hoyt,  in  violation  of  law,  as  alleged  by  the  Com 
mittee  on  Public  Expenditures,  took  to  himself,  in  all,  $29,883.36  for  storage  of  Merchandise  in 
buildings  rented  on  his  private  account,  while  the  Government  is  charged  $29,294.24  for  salaries 
of  storekeeper,  clerks,  and  inspectors,  and  for  stationery,  employed  and  used  in  said  buildings. 

Mr.  Hoyt  was  reported  to  Congress  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  as  a  defaulter  for 
$226,295.31.  But  Mr.  Hoyt,  anticipating  this,  charged  the  Government  (with  his  own  hand,  his 
clerk  refusing)  $201,580,  that  is,  1  per  cent,  on  $20,158,000  paid  over  by  him  to  the  orders  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury — that  is,  1  per  cent,  for  the  banking  part  of  the  Collector's  functions. 

In  two  years  and  four  months,  Mr.  Butler,  District  Attorney,  was  paid  by  Mr.  Hoyt,  Collector, 
for  services,  $62,690.50.  Mr.  Hoyt's  gleanings,  it  would  seem,  were  somewhat  less  than  a  quar 
ter  of  a  million  for  about  three  years  service.  (House  Docs.  Nos.  202  &  669,  2d  Sess.  27th  Cong.) 

We  are  sorry  to  observe,  that  the  present  Executive  has  in  nowise  abated  the  extravagancies 
of  the  New  York  Custom  House. 

Public  buildings. 

In  1836  Congress  authorized  the  erection  of  a  new  Patent  Office,  the  expense  of  which  should 
not  exceed  $108,000.  It  is  now  expected  it  will  cost,  when  finished,  between  $600,000  and 
$700,000.  The  Custom  House  at  Boston  was  begun  under  a  provision  not  to  cost  over  $50.000. 

7 


8 

It  has  already  cost  §696.000,  and -will  require  $156,000  more  to  finish  it.  The  New  York  Cus 
tom  House  was  begun  with  an  appropriation  of  $200,000,  and  has  cost  over  $1,100,000.  [For 
more  of  the  kind,  see  No.  460,  House  Doc.  2d  Sess.  27th  Congress.] 

The  Branch  Mints. 

These  were  designed,  especially  the  one  at  New  Orleans,  to  make  Gold  flow  up  the  Mississippi. 
It  seems  they  have  rather  tended  to  make  it  flow  out  into  the  Sea.  That  at  New  Orleans  cost 
$554,470.  The  three  branches  cost  $822,457.  They  were  established  in  1838,  and  previous  to 
1842  had  coined  $2,881,708.  The  Philadelphia  Mint  cost  $209,230,  and  in  1836  alone  coined 
$7,764,900.  The  cost  of  coining  at  the  branch  mints  has  been  28  cents  and  3  mills/or  each  dol 
lar  The  cost  of  coining  at  Philadelphia  13  cents  and  9  mills/or  one  hundred,  dollars. 

Items  expended  on  the  New  Orleans  Mint: — $8,099  for  4  bath-houses,  flagging  yard,  and  paving 
side-walk;  $3,846  for  paving  yard;  $1,700  for  7  baths  and  1  water  closet;  $818  for  finishing 
water  closets ;  &c.  &c.  The  voucher  list  of  expenditures,  numbering  272,  is  a  curiosity — espe 
cially  edifiying  to  those  who  pay  for  it.  [House  Doc.  No.  462,  2d  Sess.  27th  Congress.] 

Frauds  in  contracts  for  mail  bags,  Hanks,  $$c. 

From  House  Doc.  No.  989,  2d  Session,  27th  Congress,  it  appears,  that  the  cost  of  mail  bags, 
from  1831  to  1841,  was  $336,000;  that  Mr.  Jewett,  Ohio,  contractor,was  paid  $68,124.13  for  4,782 
bags;  that,  in  November,  1840,  there  were  on  his  (Jewett's)  hands  4,020  bags,  not  wanted,  which 
cost  $65,000;  that  a  large  overplus  was  in  the  hands  of  other  contractors;  that  bags  could  be 
got  at  50  per  cent,  less  than  was  paid  in  those  years;  that,  for  blanks,  $300,000  was  paid  between 
1829  and  1841,  generally  at  about  50  per  cent,  more  than  fair  price,  leaving  a  supply  on  hand  for 


twenty  years  to  come ;  that  storage  for  these  surplus  articles  was  charged  and  allowed  ;  that,  by 
these  and  other  frauds,  the  expenditures  of  the  Post  Office  Department  were  made  to  exceed  its 
revenue,  one  year,  by  $386,759.19,  and  another  year  by  $220,000,  thus  requiring  special  appro 
priations  out  of  the  revenue  from  Customs  and  public  lands,  and  rolling  a  heavy  burden  on  the 
27th  (Whig)  Congress;  that  Cyrus  Barton,  Concord,  N.  H.,  for  blanks,,  from  1836  to  1841, 
received  $13,927.14;  Beals  &  Green,  Boston,  Mass.,  from  1829  to  1832,  for  do.,  received 
$51,732.76;  Paine  &  Clark,  New  York,  from  1836  to  1841,  for  do.  do.  $18,883.81;  S.  Penn,  Jr. 
Louisville,  Ky.,  for  do.  do.  from  1830  to  1841,  $26,942.58;  S.  Medary,  Columbus,  Ohio,  in  1836, 
for  do.  do.  $17,546.34;  &c.  &c.  &c. 

All  these,  and  other  like  favors,  "/or  being  always  at  their  post,  actively  engaged" — "  stopping 
at  no  sacrifice  that  would  insure  success" — "  in  promoting  the  interests  of  the  noble  cause" — which 
"  heartily  entitled  them  to  Executive  favor" — &c.,  as  stated  in  letters  to  the  President.  See  Doc. 
989,  as  above. 

The  same  Committee  (on  Public  Expenditures)  speak  of  the  establishment  of  many  new  mail 
routes  and  post  offices,  not  required,  at  great  expense,  for  the  benefit  of  partisan  favorites,  and 
of  the  "deep,  dark,  and  unfathomable  sinks,"  out  of  which  these  facts  were  fished,  where  many 
more  of  the  same  kind  yet  abide,  which  could  not  be  hooked  up. 

Sundries  of  a  like  kind. 

From  Document  No.  756  of  the  House  2d  Session,  27th  Congress,  it  appears,  that  the  Com 
missioning  of  Ships,  and  the  increase  of  officers  in  the  Navy,  have  been  at  the  discretion  of  the 
Executive;  that  the  expenses  of  the  Navy  had  been  doubled  in  10  years;  that  naval  officers  had 
been  multiplied  beyond  former  example,  without  sufficient  cause ;  that  the  number  in  1835  was 
1,051  and  in  1842  was  1512,  when  365,  with  an  aggregate  pay  of  $350,000,  were  "  absent  on 
leave,  or  waiting  orders,"  that  is,  doing  nothing ;  that  many  had  been  thus  unemployed  for  ten 
twelve,  or  fourteen  years,  receiving  pav,  and  being  promoted. 

It  also  appears : — That  from  1834  to  1841,  sevonty-two  naval  officers,  at  different 
times,  had  been  detailed  into  the  "  Coast  Survey"  service,  and  while  thus  occupied,  received 
double  pay ;  that  the  Revenue  Cutter  service,  being  at  the  discretion  of  the  Executive,  rose  from 
an  annual  cost  of  $163,755  in  1830,  to  $274,803  in  1837,  while  the  revenue  collected  had  de 
creased  about  one  third ;  that  the  expenses  of  the  Land  Office  rose  in  one  year  from  $23,500  to 
8108,750,  and  remained  in  1841  at  $98,500,  when  the  land  revenue  was  only  $1,400,000 ;  and 
*iat  the  expenses  of  the  army  had  risen  from  $2,100,935  in  1829,  to  $4,197,028  in  1841. 

Extra  Allowances. 

The  above  instance  of  72  naval  officers  detailed  into  the  "  Coast  Survey"  service,  with  extra 
pay,  is  an  example.  This  license,  unwarranted  by  law,  had  pervaded  the  army  and  navy,  and 
crept  into  other  branches  of  the  public  service,  to  such  an  extent,  as  to  amount,  in  the  aggregate, 
to  scarcely,  if  at  all  less  than  a  million  a  year.  It  was  a  germ  of  corruption,  of  alarming  growth, 
corresponding  with  the  plurality  system  under  the  British  Government,  which  the  reformers  of 
that  nation  are  fast  breaking  down,  and  which  has  always  been  allowed  to  be  one  of  the  greatest 
enormities  in  the  British  empire. 

Expenditures  without  authority  of  law. 

Liberties  of  this  kind,  lo  a  great  extent,  were  taken,  in  the  progress  of  the  two  administrations 
that  preceded  the  present.  A  very  licentious  practice  of  voting  large  contingent  funds,  for  the 
different  departments  of  Government,  had  obtained,  which  presented  temptations,  and  opened  a 
floodgate  of  corruption,  to  the  higher  and  lower  public  functionaries.  Many  hundred  thousand 
dollars  had  in  this  way  been  put  at  the  discretion  of  the  existing  Administration,  no  small  portion 

8 


of  which  was  squandered  for  most  unsuitable  partisan  or  private  ends.  The  sacred  depositet 
of  trust  funds  of  various  descriptions,  were  invaded  and  exhausted,  without  sanction  of  law. 

The  new  practice  of  having  large  outstanding  appropriations,  lying  over  from  one  year  to  an 
other,  which  often  amounted  to  many  millions,  enough  in  some  cases  for  the  annual  expend! 
tures  of  the  Government,  was  introduced  and  carried  on  ID  the  last  two  administrations,  and  has 
often  been  abused  by  applying  such  appropriations  to  objects  not  designated  by  law,  at  the  dis 
cretion  of  the  Administration.  In  this  way,  there  was  never  any  want  of  funds,  when  a  partisan 
object  required  it,  or  a  private  whim  was  to  be  gratified,  or  favorites  wanted  patronage. 

Secret  and  partisan  emissaries  were  by  this  means  sent  out,  under  the  guise  of  Government 
Agents,  for  this,  that,  or  the  other  object,  the  chief  errand  being  confidential.  It  was  only 
necessary  to  have  a  nominal  Government  design,  though  unauthorized  bylaw,  to  find  an  apology 
for  drawing  oil  contingent  or  trust  funds,  or  on  dormant  outstanding  appropriations.  Special 
Agents,  almost  without  number,  were,  from  time  to  time,  put  in  commission  for  home  or  foreign 
missions,  on  the  basis  of  this  practice. 

Mr.  George  Plitt  was  sent  abroad,  as  Post  Office  Agent,  under  Amos  Kendall,  at  $16  a  day, 
till  the  expenses  ran  up  to  9,666.64,  the  payment  of  which  was  sanctioned  by  Mr.  Van  Buren, 
as  President,  without  authority  of  law.  In  the  same  manner  three  young  men  were  sent  out  in 
1839,  by  Mr.  Poinsett,  Secretary  of  War,  to  the  Cavalry  School,  at  Saumur,  in  France,  and  three 
more  in  1840 — all  without  authority  of  law.  Americans  sent  to  Europe  to  learn  to  ride  and  ma 
nage  a  horse,  at  the  public  expense,  at  the  whim  of  a  public  functionary,  and  without  legislative 
sanction  ! 

An  Administration  partisan  press  also  experienced  the  benefits  of  contingent  and  disposable 
funds  in  the  hands  of  the  Executive  and  his  agents.  In  the  two  years  of  1838  and  1839,  Mr. 
Kendall,  Post  Master  General,  contrived  to  run  up  bills  for  advertising  and  printing  in  one 
Newspaper  office,  the  Statesman,  Columbus,  Ohio,  to  the  amount  of  $9,848.21.  (Blue  Bookj 
And  so  it  was  done  all  over  the  Union,  by  the  different  Executive  Departments  at  Washington. 

Remark. 

It  should  be  observed,  that  the  quotations  we  have  made,  showing  extravagance  and  corruption 
in  the  Government,  are  only  a  few  selections,  extracted  from  voluminous  and  authentic  public 
documents,  furnished  principally  by  that  laborious  and  indefatigable  Committee  on  Public  Ex 
penditures,  whose  toils  in  the  last  Congress  have  brought  so  much  of  hitherto  concealed  frauds 
to  the  light  of  day.  The  number  and  extent  of  them  are  hardly  credible,  and  we  regret  that  we 
have  not  space  for  more  copious  extracts.  What  we  give  is  merely  as  apcep  into  the  great  mass, 
the  entire  of  which  will  readily  account 'for  the  extraordinary  and  otherwise  unaccountable 
expenditures  of  the  last  two  Administrations,  from  whose  books  our  facts  and  figures  came. 

Comparative  expenses  of  our  Government  at  different  periods. 
The  expenses  of  our  Government  down  to  the  end  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  administrar 
tion,  appear  to  have  been  frugal  and  exemplary.    The  cost  of  Washington's  admin 
istration,  comprehending  eight  years,  was  only  ...        $15,892,188 
Of  John  Adams's  four  years,          ...       >r,      vm, .  jvr,  .,       21,450,351 

Of  Jefferson's  eight  do., 41,300,788 

As  the  war  with  Great  Britain  came  under  Mr.  Madison's  terms  of  office,  eight 
years,  the  expenses  were  of  course  extraordinary,  and  mounted  up  to  $144,684,039 

Monroe's  eight  years, 104,463,400 

J.  Q.  Adams's/owr  do.  v 50,501,914 

It  may  be  thought  that  the  expenses  of  Mr.  Monroe's  and  Mr  J.  Q.  Adams's  ad 
ministrations,  were  disproportionately  large,  as  compared  with  the  earlier  days  of 
the  republic.  But  the  growth  of  the  country  may  account  for  a  part  of  it,  and  the 
grander  projects  of  the  nation,  suggested  by  the  experience  of  the  war,  for  the 
other  part. 

But  it  is  somewhat  startling  to  find  the  expenses  of  General  Jackson's  adminis 
tration  of  eight  years  mounting  up  to  .  -  -  -  -  $145,792,735, 
being  greater  than  the  cost  of  Mr.  Madison's  eight  years,  which  had  the  war  with 
Great  Britain  on  hand.  But  yet  more  startling  is  the  announcement  of  the  fact,  that 
Mr.  Van  Buren' s  administration  of  only  four  years,  cost  the  nation  $140,585,321. 
In  eight  years,  at  this  rate,  it  would  have  been  281,170,642. 
There  are  no  apparent  reasons,  aside  from  the  facts  disclosed  by  the  investigat 
ing  Committees  of  the  27th  Congress — nor  are  these  very  satisfactory — for  this 
rapid  and  amazing  increase  of  national  expenditures.  Besides,  that  the  Florida 
war  was  unnecessarily  protracted  and  unnecessarily  expensive,  as  has  been  shown, 
by  the  corruption  and  frauds  involved  in  it,  that,  even  as  it  was,  will  not  account 
for  but  a  small  fraction  of  this  great  excess  of  expenditures  above  all  former  exam 
ple.  And  what  else  extraordinary  was  there  ] 

Appropriations  of  the  27th  Congress — great  reduction  of  expenditures. 
Appropriations  are  generally  in  excess  of  the  expenditures,  with  a  view  of  grant- 


10 

ing  a  liberal  supply.^  The  appropriations  of  the  27th  Congress  for  1842,  being 
the  last  half  of  one  fiscal  year  and  the  first  half  of  another,  fallino-  in  1842,  were 
$21,603,784.58. 

It  should  be  observed,  however,  that  the  charges  of  the  Post  Office  Department 
about/bwr  million  and  a  half,  are  a  part  of  this  appropriation,  which  should  be  de 
ducted  for  a  fair  comparison,  as  the  revenues  and  disbursements  of  that  Department 
have  heretofore  been  kept  by  themselves,  and  not  reckoned  with  those  of  the  Gov 
ernment.  Nor  was  the  debt  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  one  million  and  a  half 
(assumed),  or  the  two  per  cent,  land  fund  and  land  distribution  appropriations,  falling 
in  this  account,  properly  chargeable  to  this  administration— all  of  which  deducted, 
would  reduce  the  appropriations  for  1842  to  less  than  sixteen  millions. 

The  appropriations  for  the  six  months,  between  January  1,  and  June  30,  1843, 
were  $8,166,418.00;  and  for  the  fiscal  year,  ending  June  30,  1844,  they  were 
$16,332,837.00. 

A  comparison. 

Compare  the  appropriations  of  the  27th  Congress  with  the  annual  expenditures  of  Mr.  Van 
Buren's  administration,  as  reported  by  the  Treasury  Department,  July  2d,  1841 : — 

Expenditure  of  1837 $37,265,037  15 

1838 39,455,438  35 

1839 37,614,936  15 

1840 27,249,909  51 

Total        -        -        -     $140,585,32Tl6 

The  annual  average  of  the  expenditure  of  Mr.  Van  Buren's  ad 
ministration  would  be          ....--..         35,146,330  29 

Compare  this  average  with  the  appropriations  of  the  27th  Congress  for  the  year  ending  June 
30,  1844,  which  may  fairly  be  taken  as  the  level  to  which  a  Whig  Congress  has  brought  the  ex 
penses  of  Government,  viz.  $16,332,837,  which  is  less,  by  $2,580,656.19,  than  half  the  annual 
average  of  the  expenses  of  Mr.  Van  Buren's  Administration;  or  less  by  $18,813,493.29,  than  the 
entire  average;  or  less  by  $23,122,601.35  than  the  highest  annual  expenditure  of  Mr.  Van  Buren. 

Remarks. 

A  RESULT  AND  FACT  of  the  kind  above  demonstrated,  needs  no  comment.  It  will  fall  a  CHARM 
upon  a  Government-ridden,  long  abused,  and  oppressed  nation,  and  open  their  eyes  to  the  past 
and  the  future.  They  will  see— for  it  is  proved — that  the  charges  brought  by  the  Whigs  in  1840, 
against  the  then  existing  and  former  Administrations,  of  profligacy,  corruption,  and  prodigality, 
are  sustained ;  and  that  the  expenses  of  Government  for  many  years  were  nearly  double,  at  least 
one  third  greater  than  what  was  necessary. 

Bad  Stewardship. 

Mr.  Van  Buren  came  into  power  with  six  millions  of  dollars  in  the  Treasury ;  he  took  for  the 
uses  of  Government  the  eight  millions  of  United  States  Bank  Stock  that  was  owned  by  the  Gov 
ernment;  he  also  took  the  fourth  instalment  due  to  the  States  by  the  Deposite  Act  of  1836,  which 
was  nine  millions;  the  Treasury  Notes  outstanding  on  the  4th  of  March,  1841,  when  he  retired 
to  give  place  to  General  Harrison,  were  somewhat  over  six  millions  and  a  half;  the  whole 
amounting  to  about  thirty  millions,  which  is  the  amount  he  expended,  during  his  four  years,  in 
excess  of  the  revenues  of  the  Government. 

In  addition  to  this,  the  outstanding  appropriations  on  the  4th  of  March,  1841,  were  aoout 
twenty-nine  millions.  These,  of  course,  were  so  many  liabilities  of  the  Treasury,  and  conse 
quently  so  much  additional  burden  or  debt  on  the  incoming  Administration — swelling  the  whole 
account  to  nearly  sixty  millions,  in  excess  of  the  revenues  of  the  period  of  his  Administration. 
It  is  fair,  however,  to  credit  Mr.  Van  Buren  the  nine  millions  of  outstanding  appropriations  that 
were  imposed  upon  him,  when  he  came  into  power,  March  4, 1837.  We  have,  then,  this  result, 
that  the  expenditures  of  Mr.  Van  Buren's  Administration,  including  his  appropriations  thrown 
upon  the  succeeding  Administration,  were  ffty  millions  in  excess  of  the  revenues  of  his  term 
of  office. 

Further  than  this: — The  conditions  of  the  Compromise  Act  of  1832  were  about  to  strike  off 
fve  millions  of  revenue  in  1841,  and  jive  millions  more  in  1842.  Yet  the  Government,  in  full 
view  of  the  excessive  expenditures  of  the  past,  and  of  this  diminishing  revenue  far  the  future, 
had  made  no  provision  for  this  extraordinary  and  overwhelming  state  of  things,  brought  about 
by  its  own  profligacy  and  improvidence. 

It  is  manifest,  that  no  Government  could  long  maintain  itself  under  such  a.  stewardship ;  and 
that  in  our  case,  from  the  moment  Mr.  Van  Buren  took  charge  of  our  public  affairs,  till  he  re 
signed  them,  we  were  descending  straight  and  rapidly  into  a  deep  gulf  of  debt  and  ruin.  Indeed, 
our  momentum  downward  was  so  great,  when  he  gave  up  the  reins,  that  it  was  impossible  to 
hold  up — and  here  we  are  in  consequence.  We  should,  however,  have  done  better,  if  treason  had 
not  prevented. 

»  An  illustration. 

A  steward  is  put  in  charge  of  a  large  estate  for  a  given  time,  with  plenty  of  money,  with  a 
regular  income  from  the  tenants  equal  to  all  expenditures,  with  no  incumbrances  on  the  property, 
but  large  sums  due  to  it  and  at  interest,  and  is  bound  so  to  manage  it,  as  to  deliver  it  up  at  th« 
end  of  his  time,  in  as  good  a  condition  as  it  was  in  when  he  took  it. 

10 


id,  right  lustily  did  they  wield  it,  with  coats  and  hats  off, 
1.     They  spared  not  the  estimates  sent  in  by  the  Execu- 


11 

But  the  first  thing  he  does,  is  to  spend  all  the  money  left  in  his  hands;  then  he  calls  in  the 
debts,  which  were  intended  to  remain  on  interest,  and  spends  that ;  by  want  of  foresight,  bad 
management,  and  prodigality,  the  income  from  the  farms  and  other  property  gradually  falls  off, 
and  there  is  not  enough  to  keep  the  estate  in  order ;  by  the  same  cause  this  state  of  things 
waxes  worse  and  worse,  and  the  estate  is  running  in  debt ;  all  his  employees  he  indulges  in  the 
same  habits  of  extravagance  and  profligacy,  whose  influence,  coming  in  aid  of  his,  helps  on  the 
general  ruin ;  he  is  compelled  largely  to  anticipate  his  income,  and  draw  on  the  future ;  till  al 
last,  when  the  time  of  his  stewardship  has  expired,  the  estate  is  deeply  involved,  is  greatly  injured 
by  bad  husbandry,  the  morals  of  the  tenants  are  very  much  altered  for  the  worse;  and  take  it 
11  in  all,  the  next  steward  that  comes,  finds  a  hard  enough  task  of  it,  to  save  the  estate  from 
complete  ruin. 

The  story  we  have  told  is  that  of  the  last  Administration  of  our  national  affairs. 

Retrenchment  and  Reform. 

THE  GRAND  RESULT  of  reducing  the  appropriations  to  a  little  over  sixteen  millions  a  year,  is 
sufficient  evidence  of  what  the  27th  Congress  achieved,  in  the  way  of  retrenchment  and 
reform.  They  found  every  department  of  the  Government  more  or  less  ill  organized,  ineffi 
cient,  extravagant,  and  corrupt,  exerting  a  most  pernicious  influence  on  the  morals  of  the  people, 
and  squandering  the  public  funds  by  tens  of  thousands,  and  by  millions.  The  expenditures  of  the 
Government,  by  such  means,  had  been  tripled  since  the  administration  of  Mr.  J.  Q.  Adams; 
but  the  27th  Congress,  by  applying  the  axe  of  retrenchment,  with  a  salutary  vengeance,  brought 
the  expenditures  back  again  — fully  back,  if  we  take  into  consideration  the  growth  of  the  coun 
try.  Boldly  did  they  take  the  axe  in  hand 
and  the  result  is  announced  to  the  world 
tive  Departments,  but  cut  them  down  by  millions. 

The  cases  to  which  the  knife  of  excision,  or  the  grubbing  tools  of  eradication,  have  been  ap 
plied,  are  too  numerous  for  specification  in  our  limits.  We  can  only  speak  of  them  generally. 

Some  millions  were  lopped  off  from  the  expenses  of  the  army,  by  an  Act  which  reorganized 
and  reduced  it  largely,  and  abolished  numerous  sinecures,  and  the  corrupt  custom  of  extra 
allowances?  which  sometimes  exceeded  regular  pay,  and  which,  as  a  whole,  were  enormous. 
The  abuses  that  had  crept  into  the  army,  augmenting  expenditures,  were  flagrant  and  startling. 
They  were  boldly  taken  in  hand,  and  provided  against  for  the  future. 

There  was  the  Board  of  Navy  Commissioners  in  their  easy  chairs  at  Washington,  deteriorating 
the  Navy  every  day,  and  wasting  money  in  vast  sums  by  their  decisions.  It  was  abolished ;  and 
the  whole  Navy  Department  was  reorganized  by  an  Act  of  Congress,  introducing  a  new  system 
of  economy  and  efficiency,  as  well  in  the  machinery  of  the  Department  itself,  as  in  the  various 
branches  of  the  naval  service — thereby  retrenching  from  one  to  two  millions  in  the  general  ser 
vice,  and  saving  many  millions  from  waste. 

An  Act  was  passed  amending  the  organization  of  the  Civil  Departments,  suppressing  the  sys 
tem  of  contingent  and  general  appropriations;  cutting  off  the  power  of  pensioning  a  partisan 
press,  by  ordering  the  public  printing  to  be  done  on  contract  with  fair  dealers,  in  open  market; 
ordering  purchases  and  other  Government  Jobbings,  on  the  same  principle ;  reducing  and  limit 
ing  allowances  of  various  kinds — all  a  saving  of  millions. 

The  vast  peculations  and  frauds  in  the  Indian  Department,  Land  Offices,  and  Custom  Houses, 
were  2mnted  out  and  reformed  —  an  immense  saving.  The  contingent  expenses  of  Congress 
were  cut  down  to  an  honest  level,  and  former  abuses  corrected.  All  branches  of  the  public  ser 
vice  were  thoroughly  overhauled,  examined,  retrenched,  and  reformed — to  the  saving  of  many 
millions,  as  the  appropriations  demonstrate. 

An  instructive  fact. 

If  the  estimates  of  the  Executive  Departments,  as  sent  into  Congress,  had  been  taken  as  the 
rule  of  legislation  in  the  appropriations,  we  should  have  been  but  little,  if  at  all,'  better  off  than 
before.  The  27th  Congress  thought  it  their  duty  to  cut  thenr.  down  by  many  millions.  All  this 
will  serve  to  convince  the  people  how  little  sympathy  ihere  :s  in  the  Executive  for  their  burdens, 
and  that  they  must  look  to  Congress,  if  they  have  a  good  one.  for  retrenchment  and  reform.  The 
Executive  has  no  interest  in  such  operations,  but  the  contrary.  From  that  quarter  come  all 
abuses  in  the  way  of  extravagance  and  corruption.  At  that  very  moment,  and  all  the  while  that 
the  27th  Congress  were  doing  this  great  work  for  the  people,  the  Executive  and  his  pensioned 
press  were  waging  a  fierce  and  savage  war  against  them,  and  denouncing  them  as  the  enemies 
of  the  people. 

Private  Justice. 

It  is  the  highest  praise  of  a  Government,  that  it  respects  private  Justice,  A  large  national 
debt  had  been  hanging  over  us  for  many  years,  in  the  form  of  private  claims,  which  Congress 
after  Congress  had  warded  off,  and  refused  to  hear,  lest  they  should  have  money  to  pay.  That 
appears  to  have  been  the  reason  that  had  filled  the  hearts  of  widows,  orphans,  and  decrepid  old 
men,  with  despair  for  a  nation's  injustice.  It  is  certain,  that  former  Congresses  found  enough 
Other  ways  for  their  money. 

But  the  27th  Congress  marched  straight  into  these  long  arrears,  examined  the  files,  heard 
about  a  thousand  cases,  and  granted  relief  in  a  little  less  than  three  hundred,  which  added  so 
much  to  the  demands  on  the  Treasury.  But  it  was  Just.  The  appropriations  for  private  claims 
at  the  last  session  were  a  little  less  than  one  thirtieth  of  the  whole  amount  for  a  single  year.  We 
have  not  the  means  of  exact  comparison,  but  we  think  the  private  claims  acted  upon  by  the  last 
Congress,  were  six,  if  not  ten  to  one  of  the  average  of  the  preceding  six  Congresses — all  which 
were  left  a  debt  by  the  preceding  Administrations  on  the  present 


12 

The  time,  occupied  *n  the  Sessions  of  the  Slth  Congress. 

It  was  450  days,  about  sixteen  months — the  longest  time  any  other  American  Congress  ever 
eat,  by  about  three  months.  This  has  been  made  a  subject  of  accusation  without  considering, 
1.  That  they  had  the  Apportionment  on  a  new  census  to  fix,  a  work  the  materials  of  which  arc 
ten  years  accumulating,  for  which  it  would  be  no  more  than  fair  to  allow  one  month.  2.  That 
they  had  the  Tariff  to  readjust,  another  accumulation  of  ten  years,  which  may  fairly  be 
put  down  for  three  months,  on  account  of  the  greatness  and  difficulties  of  the  task,  ir  the  pecu 
liar  circumstances  of  the  case.  There  were  between  six  and  seven  hundred  articles  to  legislate 
upon,  each  of  which  was  enough  fora  separate  bill.  Six  plans  of  Tariff  were  got  up,  four 
passed,  and  two  were  vetoed.  3.  The  currency  question,  which,  including  all  the  hindrances  and 
embarrassments  occasioned  by  the  Vetoes,  and  the  new  projects  in  the  form  of  Exchequer  plans, 
probably  did  not  consume  less  than  three  months.  4.  For  the  labors  in  retrenchment  and  reform, 
it  is  proper  to  allow  another  month. 

All  these  will  probably  be  allowed  to  be  extraordinary,  not  usually  claiming  the  attention  of 
Congress ;  and  they  amount  altogether  to  eight  months — which  is  half  the  time  occupied  by  the 
three  Sessions. 

When,  therefore,  these  facts  are  considered,  in  connexion  with  the  grand  total  of  their  labors, 
that  the  aggregate  of  the  Reports  made  in  both  Houses,  was  1849;  of  joint  resolutions  and  bills 
acted  on,  1328;  and  of  laws  finally  passed,  514;  the  laws  averaging  as  much  more  than  one  a 
day,  as  514  exceeds  450,  a  far  greater  proportion  than  any  other  Congress  ever  did  in  a  given 
time;  when  all  this  is  considered,  the  accusation  falls  to  the  ground,  and  the  27lh  Congress 
stands  forth,  not  only  vindicated,  but  entitled  to  the  highest  praise,  in  this  particular.  Certainly, 
it  can  never  be  said,  that,  by  their  protracted  Sessions,  they  have  increased  the  expenses  of  Gov 
ernment,  when  it  is  proved,  that  they  have  reduced  them  one  half. 

The  discipline  of  the  21th  Congressi         » 

Notwithstanding  all  the  clamor  about  gag-laws,  suppression  of  the  freedom  of  debate,  &c\,  it 
is  now  generally  conceded,  even  by  the  opposition  in  the  late  Congress,  certainly  it  is  felt  by  the 
country,  that  the  one  hour  rule,  and  the  assumption  in  the  House  o~f  Representatives  of  the  right 
to  limit  debate  in  Committee  of  the  Whole,  are  among  the  best  and  most  important  regulations 
ever  adopted  by  a  deliberative  body.  It'is  a  great  reform,  and  it  was  by  this,  and  by  this  only, 
that  the  27th  Congress  were  enabled  to  accomplish  such  a  vast  amount  of  business  so  greatly 
in  excess  of  all  preceding  Congresses,  in  a  given  time. 

The  custom  that  had  grown  up,  of  allowing  one  speech  to  be  spun  out  two,  sometimes  three 
whole  days,  was  an  outrage,  that  should  be  scouted  from  the  nation,  with  the  indignant  voice  of 
popular  reprobation. 

Land  Distribution. 

Although,  like  the  action  of  Congress  on  the  currency  question,  this  also  was  a  failure  by  the 
interposition  of  the  veto  power,  it  was  nevertheless  a  prominent  and  important  feature  in  the 
history  of  the  27th  Congress. 

The  terms  of  the  cession  were,  that  these  "lands  shall  be  a  common  fund  for  the  use  and 
benefit  of  such  of  the  United  States  as  have  become,  or  shall  become  members  of  the  Confede 
racy,  according  to  their  itsnal  respective  proportions  in  the  general  charge  and  expenditure,"  after 
the  objects  of  cession  shall  have  been  answered.  General  Jackson,  in  his  message  of  1832, 
says,  "  as  the  lands  may  now  be  considered  as  released  fi  om  the  pledge,  the  object  for  which 
thev  were  ceded  having  been  accomplished,  it  is  in  the  discretion  of  Congress  to  dispose  of 
them,"  &c. 

Besides  the  equity  and  consequent  obligations  of  the  case,  there  are  four  cogent  political 
and  eminently  practical  reasons,  which  urge  distribution  ia  some  form.  1.  The  States  are  but 
integral  parts  of  a  whole — the  Union.  If  the  parts  are  weak,  the  whole  is  weak;  and  if  the 
parts  are  strong,  the  whole  is  strong.  The  interests  of  the  parts  cannot  be  disjoined  from  those 
of  the  whole.  2.  In  the  Federal  Constitution,. the  States  have  relinquished  the  right  of  collect 
ing  revenue  from  imposts,  and  it  is  vested  in  the  United  States.  This  will  naturally  be  regarded 
as  conferring  some  obligations  on  the  United  States  to  be  at  least  considerate  and  kind  towards 
the  States  in  their  needs,  when  in  danger  of  being  driven  to  direct  taxation  for  want  of  this 
power,  and  to  help  them  if  they  can  without  violating  the  Constitution.  3.  It  will  always  be 
felt,  and  we  think  with  truth  and  justice,  and  felt  more  and  more,  that  it  was  the  action  of 
the  Federal  Government,  which  brought  the  indebted  States  and  other  parties,  and  the 
country  generally,  into  these  difficulties.  Hence  arises  the  obligation  to  render  assistance,  when 
it  can  be  done  in  a  proper  and  Constitutional  way.  4.  The  importance' of  rescuing  the  tariff 
frystem  from  the  fluctuating  influence  of  an  ever  shifting  land  revenue,  and  the  practical  evils 
resulting  from  this  connexion,  would  seem  sufficient  to  make  it  better  to  give  away  the  public 
lands,  than  to  have  such  a  disturbing  cause  for  ever  acting  an  the  Tariff  policy.  Onco  dispose 
of  this  agitating  question,  and  let  the  General  Government  depend  on  a  Tariff  for  support,  we 
may  then  hope  for  a  permanent  and  uniform  system  of  revenue  and  finance. 

Funding  the  public  debt. 

This  was  a  part  of  the  doings  of  the  27th  Congress.  It  will  have  been  seen  in  a  former  part 
of  this  Tract,  in  what  an  embarrassed  condition  Mr.  Van  Buren  left  the  Treasury  and  the  public 
finances;  that  he  came  in  with  six  millions  in  the  Treasury,  afterwards  took  the  eight  millions  of 
United  States  bank  stock,  and  the  nine  millions  instalment  due  the  States  —  in  all,  with  their 
fractions  and  interest,  about  twenty-four  millions  over  and  above  the  revenue — and  that  he  went 
out,  leaving  the  Treasury  involved  with  six  millions  and  a  half  of  debt,  in  the  form  of  Treasury 
notes,  and  other  liabilities  in  the  form  of  outstanding  appropriations,  amounting  in  all  to  nearly 
thirty-Jive  millions.  Add  this  thirty-five  millions  to  the  twenty-four  millions,  above  referred  to, 

12 


13 

and  deduct  nine  millions  of  outstanding  appropriations  left  for  Mr.  Van  Buren  to  provide  for 
when  he  came  into  power,  and  we  have  the  result  of  ffty  millions  run  up  by  Mr.  Van  Buren  in 
his  four  years,  over  and  above  the  public  revenue. 

Beside  all  this,  there  was  a  constantly  descending  revenue,  resulting  from  the  conditions  of- 
the  compromise  act  of  1832,  and  from  the  misfortunes  of  the  country.  Five  millions  were  to 
fall  off  by  the  first  of  these  causes,  in  1841,  and  five  millions  more  in  1842. 

With  this  astounding  state  of  things,  inherited  by  the  new  administration,  with  such  a  debt, 
such  liabilities  of  the  Treasury,  and  such  a  revenue — what  was  to  be  done? 

The  Whigs  of  the  27th  Congress,  like  all  honest  men,  were  compelled  to  recognise  the  debt; 
to  call  it  by  its  right  name ;  but  what  should  they  do  with  it,  and  how  provide  for  the  prospect 
before  them  ?  They  took  the  bull  by  the  horns  at  once,  put  a  rin'g  in  his  nose,  and  got  him  under 
control,  instead  of  hanging  on  to  his  tail,  and  being  dragged  after  him  in  his  wild  and  furious 
career,  as  the  previous  administration  had  done.  They  funded  ike  debt,  or  a  small  part  of  it, 
twelve  millions,  and  undertook  to  manage  the  rest  as  well  as  tliey  could,  by  Treasury  notes  and 
other  expedients,  till  prosperity  might  return  under  the  operation  of  the  contemplated  Tariff. 

Providing  for  the  extinction  of  the  public,  debt. 

When  a  man  has  got  in  debt,  if  not  discouraged,  he  undertakes  to  get  out  by  fresh  enterprise 
and  frugality.  There  was  no  other  way  for  the  27th  Congress  to  provide  for  the  extinction  of 
the  public  debt  imposed  upon  them  by  the  previous  administration,  but  by  restoring  public  pros 
perity  by  a  Tariff.  This  they  put  in  order,  and  by  it  the  nation  may  gradually  be  relieved  of  all 
its  burdens, 

Who  created  this  public  debt  ? 

In  view  of  the  facts  we  hare  presented,  it  might  seem  very  superfluous  to  put  this  question , 
and  yet  the  Locofoco  press  throughout  the  country  is  constantly  iterating  and  reiterating  the 
charge,  that  the  Whigs  made  it. 

We  observe  a  confession  from  the  Hon.  Cave  Johnson,  of  Tennessee,  in  circulation,  of  a 
debt  of  $7,480,692.18,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1841,  when  Mr.  Van  Buren  retired — which  he  (Mr 
Johnson)  professes  to  have  got  from  the  Treasury.  Add  to  this  the  outstanding  appropriations, 
not  reckoned  by  him,  of  §28,906,090.76,  (House  Doc.  281,  2d.  Scss.  27th  Con.),  saddled  on  the 
incoming  administration,  a.nd  it  makes  the  debt  thus  descending,  or  inherited,  $36,386,782.94. 
These  being  the  liabilities  of  the  Treasury  on  that  occasion,  constitute  the  true  story  of  the  debt. 

The  amount  of  these  outstanding  or  undrawn  appropriations,  is  remarkable.  One  fourth  of 
this  would  be  an  egregious  fault  at  any  time.  But  the  out-going  administration  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1841,  had  used  up  all  funds,  run  down  the  revenue,  got  in  debt,  and  found  it  convenient 
to  saddle  the  burden  on  their  successors,  who  had  to  provide  for  it  all. 

Mr.  Van  Buren's  furtive  mode  of  creating  a  public  debt. 

There  is  another  cause  of  national  debt  which  may  be  called  furtive,  growing  out  of  the  last 
administration,  and  stealing  upon  the  present.  It  was  neglecting  to  provide  a  revenue  for  the 
future,  or  permitting  our  only  system  of  revenue  to  run  down  or  run  out.  They  broke  it  down. 
A  Government  is  as  much  bound  to  provide  for  four  years  to  come,  as  for  next  year;  or  is  as 
responsible  for  breaking  down  the  revenue  for  four  coming  years,  as  for  one.  By  such  means 
it  entails  a  national  debt.  It  is  precisely  the  same  as  if  it  had  left  one. 

It  has  been  seen,  that  Mr.  Van  Buren  used  up  thirty  millions  more  than  the  revenue  of  his 
term  of  office ;  that  he  left  more  than  thirty  millions  of  a  positive  burden  on  the  succeeding 
administration ;  and  in  addition  to  all  this,  he  so  managed  our  financial  system,  that  it  would  not 
be  possible  to  get  more  than  half  as  much  revenue  in  the  next  four  years  as'he  got  in  his  term, 
without  a  new  organization,  the  benefits  of  which  could  not  be  realized  under  two  or  three 
years  —  scarcely  less  than  four.  All  these  things  considered,  the  burden  entailed  by  Mr.  Vafc 
Buren  on  the  succeeding  administration,  could  not  be  less  than  ffty  millions  —  a  sum  nearly 
enough  to  support  a  prudent  administration  for  a  whole  term  of  four  years. 
The  worst  thing  of  all. 

It  were  a  small  matter,  that  the  expenses  of  Government  should  have  been  raised  one  half  or 
one  third  higher  than  was  necessary,  by  fraud,  peculation,  defalcation,  and  extravagance,  per 
vading  all  its  departments,  as  has  been  proved  in  these  pages,  if  the  destruction  of  the  currency 
and  other  ruinous  disasters,  brought  upon  the  whole  nation  and  all  its  parts,  by  a  mistaken  and 
fatal  policy,  had  not  rendered  the  burden  so  heavy — so  intolerable;  and  if,  moreover,  the  Gov 
ernment  had  not  allowed  the  system  ef  revenue  itself  to  be  broken  down,  thus  leading  to  direct 
taxation  of  a  people,  who,  by  such  causes,  had  been  made  so  poor  as  to  have  nothing  to  pay  it 
with.  If  they  had  left  us  the  old  state  of  things,  our  prosperity  and  our  means,  they  might  have 
run  up  the  expenses  of  Government  to  ffty,  or  even  a  hundred  millions  a  year — and  we  could 
have  borne  and  carried  it  all  easily. 

Confession  of  Mr.  Woodbury. 

In  December,  1840,  Mr.  Woodbury,  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  said  in  his  annual 
Report : — 

"Thustne  progressive  reduction  of  the  present  Tariff,  which  has  been  going  on  since  1833, 
will,  after  December,  1841,  take  effect  to  a  much  largei  extent  than  heretofore.  Nearly  two 
millions  and  a  half  will  then  be  deducted  at  once. 


r  page  6)  Omitted— rather  curious  :— Tn  1837  Congress  made  an  appropriation  of  $210,000  to 
remove  obstructions  in  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  Various  attempts  were  made  at  a  cost  of  $223,231, 
in  the  bill  of  which  we  find  the  following  interesting  and  appropriate  items: — for  silver  watches, 
$380;  for  hardware,  $3,322;  for  port  wine,  $29  25;  fines  to  Sheriff,  $14  10;  hosiery,  $23;  hire  of 
carriages,  $58  25  ;  omnibus  tickets,  $9,75  ;  painting  office  sign.  $9  ;  dry  goods,  $106  ;  musquito  bars 
$120  :  muslin  $77  58  j  repairing  watches,  $45  50  ;  &c.  (House  Doc.  458,  2d  Sess.,  27th  Congress  > 

13 


14 

"On  the  1st  of  July  afterwards,  at  least  two  millions  and  a  half  more  of  duties  will  be  re 
moved  ;  making  an  aggregate  in  six  months,  of  quite  five  millions.  If  the  imports  then  should 
not  differ  much  from  those  in  1838,  this  would  leave  an  income  from  them  not  probably  exceed 
ing  ten  or  eleven  millions  of  dollars  yearly.  It  will  therefore  be  necessary  to  make  correspond 
ing  reductions  in  the  expenditures  of  1842,  or  seasonably  provide  otherwise,  in  some  perma.ne.ni 
manner,  to  supply  all  wants  likely  to  happen  from  this  cause." 

This  is  a  confession  to  be  noted,  as  coming  from  Mr.  Woodbury,  whose  faculty  of  concealing 
such  truths  was  pre-eminent.  As  a  peep  into  the  future  from  that  position,  however,  and  as 
usual  for  him,  it  does  not  disclose  a  thousandth  part  of  the  difficulties  to  be  encountered,  arising 
out  of  the  improvidence  and  wastefulness  of  the  Administration  of  which  he  was  a  part.  There 
is,  nevertheless,  in  this  confession,  a  foreshadowing  of  a  coming  crisis.  That  Crisis,  induced 
by  the  previous  administration,  the  Whigs  of  the  27th  Congress  had  to  meet,  and  provide  for. 
Mr.  Van  Buren  and  his  friends,  adhering  to  their  principles,  would  have  been  overthrown  by  it 
They  could  never  have  repaired  the  mischief  they  had  done. 

The  Districting  Law. 

The  Constitution,  on  this  subject,  reads  thus: — "  The  times,  places,  and  manner  of  holding 
elections  for  Senators  and  Representatives,  shall  be  prescribed  in  each  State  by  the  legislature 
thereof;  but  the  Congress  may  at  any  time  by  law  make  or  alter  such  regulations,  except  as  to  the 
places  of  chooshig  Senators." 

Now,  it  happens,  that  the  law  of  the  27th  Congress,  requiring  each  State  to  be  divided  into  as 
many  Congressional  districts  as  there  are  Representatives,  to  the  end  that  each  member  may 
represent  his  own  district,  still  leaves  the  detail  of  these  regulations,  as  to  "  times,  places,  and 
manner  of  holding  the  elections,  to  be  prescribed  by  the  Slatelegislatures,"  as  above  directed  by  the 
Constitution,  so  that  nothing  of  the  power  thus  vested  in  the  States,  is  taken  away,  notwithstanding 
the  right  of  Congress  to  "  alter  such  regulations  by  law  at  any  time,"  is  clearly  given  in  the  same 
sentence.  There  is  therefore  not  the  slightest  invasion  of  the  pretended  claim  of  the  States,  by 
this  law.  They  are  only  required  to  elect  by  Districts,  instead  of  the  general  ticket. 

The  benefits  of  the  district  system  are,  1.  Uniformity  in  the  mode  of  elections.  Before 
some,  and  most  of  the  States,  acted  on  the  district  system;  others  elected  by  general  ticket 

2.  Fairness  to  all  political  parties.     It  might  happen,  when  the  majority  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  were  of  one  political  party,  that  the  adoption  of  the  general  ticket  in  two  or  three 
States,  should  give  the  opposite  party  the  ascendency  in  Congress— a  very  improper  advantage 

3.  The  District  system  is  more  democratic,  and  gives  a  chance  to  every  district  to  elect  a  man 
whom  the  people  Jmoiv,  to  represent  them  and  their  interests ;  whereas  the  other  system  is  con 
trolled  by  the  nominations  of  a  few  political  demagogues,  who  thus  control  the  people  of  a 
whole  State,  and  the  people  of  the  Union.     It  is  a?i£i-democratic. 

If  Representatives  elected  by  general  ticket  should  be  admitted  into  the  next  Congress,  it  will 
be  against  a  law  of  the  land — it  will  be  nullification  in  the  boldest  form,  the  nullifiers  standing 
up  and  acting  in  the  capacity  of  the  Supreme  legislators. 

The  remedial  Justice  bill. 

In  the  passage  of  this  bill,  the  27th  Congress  had  to  grapple  with  and  settle  one  of  the  most 
delicate  and  most  momentous  questions  involved  in  the  relations  of  Federal  and  State  Jurisdic 
tions.  All  know,  that  the  Constitution  forbids  the  States  to  make  war,  or  peace,  or  treaties  with 
foreign  powers ;  from  which  it  might  justly  be  inferred,  that  no  State  has  a  right  so  to  exercise 
its  independent  authorities  as  to  breed  war.  Yet  it  is  manifest,  that  such  was  the  tendency  and 
hazard  of  the  action  of  the  New  York  authorities  in  the  case  of  Alexander  M'Leod. 

The  object  attained  by  the  Remedial  Justice  bill,  is  to  bring  all  such  questions,  involving  inter 
national  relations,  under  the  Federal  Jurisdiction,  and  into  the  Courts  of  the  United  States,  where 
they  properly  belong,  so  that  it  shall  not  be  in  the  power  of  the  authorities  of  a  single  State  to 
involve  the  United  States  in  war. 

Tlie  Tariff. 

This  is  a  difficult  subject,  both  in  theory  and  practice.  Facts  only  can  decide  the  questions 
that  rise. 

Tariff  axioms. 

1.  Free  trade  means  fair  trade,  in  popular  phrase.  2.  Fair  trade  requires,  that  if  one  nation 
has  a  tariff,  its  neighbor,  trading  with  it,  must  have  an  equal  one,  for  self-protection.  3.  And 
consequently,  the  principles  of  free  trade,  require  equal  tariffs,  or  none  at  all.  4.  Since  other 
nations,  with  which  we  trade,  have  tariff's,  we  must  have  one  too,  to  maintain  our  own  rights,  or 
unwisely  suffer  disadvantage  and  loss.  5.  Reciprocity  in  tariffs  is  a  principle  of  free  trade — that 
is,  the  same  practically. 

Specimens  of  foreign  tariffs. 

The  British  Tariff  on  Louisiana  sugar  is  270  per  cent. ;  on  molasses,  400  do. ;  on  American 
tobacco,  1200  do.;  on  our  spirits  from  grain,  2700  do.;  on  our  wheat,  60  do.;  on  our  salt  beef. 
80  do.;  on  our  pork,  G8  do. ;  on  our  bacon,  85  do. ;  on  our  timber,  96  do. ;  on  our  staves,  110  do.; 
&c.  &c.  &c.  British  duties  on  our  most  important  agricultural  staples — cotton  excepted — are 
intended  to  be  prohibitory,  and  are  so.  The  duties  collected  in  Europe  on  American  tobacco,. 
are  thirty-jive  millions  of  dollars  annually — equal  to  the  average  annual  expenditure  of  Mr.  Van 
Buren's  Administration ;  and  double  of  the  annual  appropriations  of  the  27th  (Whig)  Congress. 
Surely,  it  is  no  more  than  fair  to  get  something  back  for  all  this  which  foreigners  get  out  of  us — 
at  least  half  of  what  Europe  gets  on  our  tobacco,  which  would  amply  support  our  Government 
under  a  Whig  Administration. 

14- 


15 


Objections  to  the  Tariff  of  1842. 

It  is  said  it  is  too  high.  The  following  is  a  comparative  statement  (direct  from  the  Treasury 
Department)  of  the  Tariffs  of  1824,  '28,  '32-3,  and  '42,  in  regard  to  a  list  of  some  of  the  most 
important  articles,  by  which  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  no  foundation  for  this  objection : — 


Species  of  Merchandise. 

Rates  of  duty  under  the  Tariffs  of 

1824. 

1828. 

1832-5. 

1842. 

j  Cloths  and  cSssi  meres     - 

36f  per  ct. 
36§     " 

27*     « 
27*     «* 
27*     " 
27*     || 

3(>|      " 
3G*      " 

33*      " 
3«!      " 
3G|      " 
3|  cts. 
33  per  ct. 

55  per  ct. 
55 

J8* 
38* 
38* 
27* 
361- 
36* 
3<>* 
55*  &  4  cts. 
55*  &  4  cts. 
40*  per  ct. 
49*     •' 
5  cts. 
55  per  ct. 
3  cts. 
4 
12 
9 
3 
3 
5 

4 

9 

3* 
3*« 
3*" 
185  cwt. 
I  ct-lb. 
20  cts. 
200 
250 

:?oo 

350 
400 
30 
25 
25 
15 
150 

50  per  ct. 
50     » 

25     " 
25     •• 
free 
20  per  ct. 
50*  &  4  cts. 
50  per  ct. 
free 
40*  &  4  cts. 
16  cts. 
16    " 
3*  " 
50  per  ct. 
2*  cts. 
3* 
12 
9 
I 
3 
5 
5 
4 
3 
21 
1* 
1 
3 
3 
3 
150  cwt. 
90    " 
10  cts. 
200 
250 
300 
350 
400 
30 
25 
25 
15 
150 

40  per  ct. 
40      " 
15      " 
25      " 
30      '« 
30      " 
30      " 
30      «• 
40      " 

30*  &.  3  eta. 
14  cts. 
14    " 

50  per  ct. 

2i  cts. 
4      ** 
o     ** 
9      " 
3     " 
3     " 
3     « 
4     " 
3     " 
2*   " 

|| 

I: 

2*    « 
125  cwt. 
85    " 
Seta 
300 
400 

30 

25 
25 
15 
125 

[  Blankets  not  above  75  cents  each 
"        above  75  cents  each     -        -        -    -    •  '• 
Woollen  hosiery,  gloves,  mils,  &c. 
Worsted  stuffs     

Worsted  yarn 

Other  manufactures  of  wool 
Wool  unmanufactured  not  above  8  cts.  per  pound 
11                   above  8  cents  per  pound 

Clothing  ready  uiaoe 

OU^al,        ...            » 

4    " 
12    " 

9    " 
3   " 

5    " 

5    " 
4    » 
3    " 

27*  per  ct. 
1*  cts. 

3     » 
3     " 
3     " 

"     loaf                             .       .       .       . 

Cheese         ...               .... 
Lard         

v^      '           . 

Blacksmith's  hau'mers  and  sledges 

round  and  Brazier's  rods    -        -        -    '  • 
nail  and  spike  rods 

bar  manufactured  l»y  rolling  • 
manufactured  ol.^ieiwise 

150  cwt. 
SO    " 
20  cts. 
200 
250 
300 
350 
400 
30 
25 
25 
IS 
150 

Glass  bottles,  btack,  n  "by  a  1  quart 
n  by  a  2  quart        •   ;,   • 
Window  glass,  n  by  a  8  bv  10  inches 
n  by  a  10  by  12    "          - 
above  10  by  12    " 
Shoes  and  slippers,  silk           - 
prumelle,  and  other  stuff 
leather       .... 
children's      .... 
Boots  and  bootees    

It  will  be  seen  that  the  Tariff  of  1828  is  the  highest  of  the  four.  It  has  been  called  "  the  bill 
of  abominations."  Yet  Martin  Van  Buren,  Richard  M.  Johnson,  Thos.  H.  Benton,  Mahlon 
Dickerson,  Silas  Wright,  an-d  James  Buchanan — all  voted  for  it.  Messrs.  Wright  and  Buchanan 
also  voted  for  the  Tariff  of  1842,  and  twenty  of  the  -Loco  focos  of  the  House.  Indeed,  the  credit 
of  the  bill  of  1842  is  claimed  for  these,  because,  it  is  said,  their  vote  carried  it. 

It  is  also  said,  that  the  present  Tariff  will  operate  as  prohibitory,  and  diminish  revenue.  It  is 
a  sufficient  answer,  to  state  the  facts,  that  the  highest  Tariffs  we  have  ever  had,  have  produced 
the  largest  revenue,  and  that  every  quarter's  return  of  the  present  Tariff,  proves  the  same  thing. 
These  facts  are  indisputable. 

It  is  moreover  said,  that  a  Tariff  enhances !  prices  of  the  goods  on  which  it  is  imposed.  Sup 
pose  it  does,  it  is  a  voluntary  tax,  and  in  a  Tariff  like  ours,  it  falls  chiefly  on  the  rich.  But  the 
thing  is  false,  in  application  to  a  judicious  Tariff,  as  the  following  statement,  furnished  by  the 
Treasury  Department,  will  show  :— • 


IE 

16. 

3 

825. 

1 

B29. 

1 

332. 

Price. 

Duty. 

Price 

Duty. 

Price. 

Duty, 

Price. 

Duty. 

Braces  of  24  bits 
Hammers,  per  doz. 
Cupboard  locks,  per  doz. 
Steelyards,  per  pair 
Hinges,  cast  butts,  per  doz. 
Compasses,  rule  joint,  per  doz.     . 
Currycombs  per  doz. 

s.    d. 
18  10 
12 
4 
4    8 
3    2 
4    2 
3  10 

per  ct. 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 

s.  d. 
7   6 
7   2 
2   7 
2    9 
2    3 
3    1 
2 

per  ct. 
25 
25 
25 

O*j 

25 
25 
25 

s.  d. 
5 
5    4 
1  10 
I    4 
1    2 
2    7 
1    4 

per  ct. 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 

s.  d. 
5 
4    2 
1    3 
1 
1    4 
1  10 
11 

per  ct. 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 

15 


16 

The  prices  under  1816  show  the  rates  before  the  Tariff  of  that  year;  those  under  1825  show 
the  effects  of  the  Tariff  of  1816;  and  so  on.  Like  effects  were  produced  by  those  Tariffs  on 
nearly  all  kinds  of  goods  subject  to  increased  duty,  cotton  and  woollen  fabrics,  &c.  &c. 

The  Birmingham  Factory  of  pins,  in  Connecticut,  which,  before  the  Tariff  of  1842,  was  able 
to  turn  out  a  million  a  day,  and  undersell  the  imported  pins,  immediately  lowered  the'  prices  six 
cents  per  pack,  after  the  Tariff,  which  imposes  a  duty  from  20  to  30  per  cent,  on  this  article. 

The  following  are  from  the  prices  current  of  domestic  goods,  «4;  Lowell,  Mass.,  immediately 
before  and  immediately  after  the  Tariff  of  1842 : 

Cents.  Cents. 

Cotton  drillings, before  the  Tariff,    74 

"       shirtings,      ....      do.  do.       5| 

"            "         heavy,    -    -      do.  do. 

"      sheetings,     -    -    -    -      do.  do. 

"             "          wide,     -    -      do.  do. 

Flannel, do.  do. 

Woollens  of  different  kinds  fell  from  12£  to  20  per  cent. 

The  Collector  of  the  Customs  of  New  York,  Mr.  Curtis,  in  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  of  Nov.  28,  1842,  gives  a  long  list  of  prices,  before  and  after  the  Tariff,  of  articles  on 
which  an  increased  duty  had  been  imposed,  which  proves,  that  the  prices  of  such  articles  had 
in  all  cases  fallen,  except  on  the  best  brandies — and  fallen  largely,  for  the  most  part. 

These  facts  prove,  that  a  suitable  protection  of  home  industry  and  labor  will  enable  domestic 
manufacturers  to  sell  lower,  and  that  home  competition  is  quite  sufficient  to  secure  this  end. 

Any  Tariff,  therefore,  that  is  necessary  for  an  adequate  revenue,  supersedes  the  necessity  of 
direct  taxation,  and  is  an  unspeakable  blessing  to  the  labor  and  industry  of  the  country,  besides  that 
it  lowers  the  prices  of  manufactured  articles,  while  the  wages  of  labor,  and  the  staple  products 
of  our  own  soil,  everywhere  rise.  The  farmer  gets  his  goods  cheaper,  sells  his  products  higher, 
and  finds  a  ready  market.  By  this  means  a  foundation  is  laid  for  the  re-establishment  of  a  sound 
currency.  It  brings  in  the  precious  metals,  and  keeps  them  here.  Accordingly  we  find,  that 
since  the  Tariff  of  1842,  they  are  flowing  in  upon  us  with  great  increase. 

The  truth  is,  we  can  never  have  a  sound  and  abundant  currency,  till  the  Tariff  shall  have  had 
a  fair  and  full  experiment.  For  the  want  of  it,  our  country  had  been  drained  of  specie.  It  is 
now  flowing  back  again. 

Hence,  the  re-adjustment  of  our  Tariff  regulations,  which,  by  the  conditions  of  former  legis 
lation  on  the  subject  necessarily  devolved  on  the  27th  Congress,  was,  in  fact,  of  greater  impor 
tance  than  the  re-establishment  of  the  currency.  It  was  a  sine  qua  non — the  former  being  indi» 
pensable  as  a  basis  of  the  latter. 

The  Tariff  is  necessarily  the  first  step  in  our  return  to  prosperity.  Not  an  inch  can  be  reco 
vered,  but  all  would  be  backward  and  downward  still,  without  it.  Hence  the  importance  of  the 
27th,  or  Whig  Congress,  as  the  opposing  party  would  never  have  granted  this  boon  to  the  people 
but  would  even  now  snatch  it  away,  if  they  should  dare. 

What  we  have  proved. 

We  submit  whether  the  facts  we  have  adduced  do  not  prove,  that  there  has  been  something 
bad — very  bad  in  the  administration  of  our  Government  for  a  length  of  years;  and  that  the  peo* 
pie  in  1840  did  not  complain  without  reason,  were  not  roused  without  cause. 
To  whom  we  are  indebted. 

To  the  Whigs  of  the  27th  Congress,  laboring  under  the  greatest  possible  disadvantages  by  die 
defection  of  the  Chief  Magistrate — or  rather  by  the  betrayal  of  the  insincerity  of  his  pretensions — 
and  contending  with  a  powerful  opposition  that  conspired  with  a  treacherous  Executive  to  thwart, 
undermine,  and  defeat  them — to  the  Whigs  of  that  Congress,  placed  in  such  circumstances,  and 
warring  with  such  difficulties,  is  the  nation  indebted  for  these  discoveries  and  results.  There  is  the 
GREAT  FACT,  the  DOINGS  of  the  27th  Congress,  demonstrating  what  can  be  accomplished,  even 
against  such  obstacles,  in  the  way  of  retrenchment  and  reform,  in  bringing  to  light  the  hidden 
crimes  of  the  past,  and  providing  healing  measures  for  the  great  misfortunes  of  the  country. 

What  history  v;ill  record  of  the  21th  Congress. 

It  will  say — That  it  was  begotten  of  an  injured  people,  in  hope  of  redress ;  that  it  was  the  most  tal 
ented  ever  assembled  in  the  same  place;  that  the  majority  of  that  body  were  men  of  honest  political 
design,  intent  on  great  reform,  so  much  demanded  ;  that  they  were  born  to  this  great  endeavor  amid 
shoutings,  lived  under  a  cloud,  and  died  grieving,  if  not  lamented;  that  they  had  more  important  business 
coming  before  them,  and  did  more,  than  any  other  Congress;  that  what  they  left  undone,  was  not  their 
fault;  that  they  were  placed  in  a  position  most  anomalous,  and  had  to  contend  with  difficulties  unpar 
alleled,  by  the  perfidious  conduct  of  the  Chief  Magistrate;  that  they  came  in  after  a  set  of  men,  who,  by 
many  years  of  a  ruinous  policy  and  destructive  measures,  had  broken  down  the  currency,  run  down  the 
revenue,  run  down  the  people,  and  run  down  the  country;  that  they  were  required  to  build  all  up  again 
in  a  day ;  that  they  performed  miracles  for  the  circumstances  in  which  they  were  placed,  introduced  bold 
reform,  and  effected  large  retrenchments,  in  a  Government  for  a  long  time  not  guilty  of  such  works,  but 
the  contrary;  that  in  fidelity  of  purpose  and  vigor  of  undertaking,  they  excelled  all  example  of  the  kind- 
and  that  they  began  a  great  and  good  work,  achieved  much  of  it,  and  put  down  a  stake  in  Ameri 
can  history,  which  will  be  looked  to  and  hung  to  in  all  future  time,  so  long  as  men  may  hope  foi 
improvement. 

The  Future. 

In  i840  the  instincts  of  a  nation  in  deep  distress,  were  roused  for  self-preservation,  and  they  tri 
umphed.  But  treason — rank  treason  snatched  victory  from  the  victors.  In  1844,  the  last  great 
trial  will  come,  and  the  weal  or  woe  of  this  nation  will  then  be  settled.  There  is  no  escape^ 
We  have  only  to  say  to  a  disappointed,  suffering,  and  half  despairing  people,— 

Once  more  unto  the  breach,  dear  friends — ONCE  MORE. 
16 


THE 

I  JUNIUS  TRACTS.    ^,^ 

i*o  .,,v.      No.  II.     ^^m^, 

MAY  ]  PUBLISHED  EVERY  SECOND  MONTH.  [1843 


THE    CURKEICY. 

BY  JUNIUS. 

Author  of  "  THE  CRISIS  OF  THE  COUNTRY,"  and  other  Tracts  of  1840. 
Price,  3  cents  single,  $2  50  cts.  per  100,  or  $20  per  1000. 


TRACTS  ALREADY  PUBLISHED. 

No.     I.  THE  TEST,  OR  PARTIES  TRIED  BY  THEIR  ACTS. 
«     II.  THE  CURRENCY. 
«    III.  THE   TARIFF. 
«    IV.  LIFE  OF  HENRY  CLAY. 
«      V.  POLITICAL  ABOLITION. 

£7"  NOTICE :  Committees,  Clubs,  and  all  persons  desirous  of  obtaining  these  Tracts, 
are  requested  to  send  their  orders,  with  remittances,  to  the  publishers,  Greeley  $  McElrath, 
Tribune  Office,  New  York,  who  will  promptly  forward  them  to  any  part  of  the  Union,  as  may 
be  directed.  Remittances  by  mail,  post  paid  or  free,  at  the  risk  of  the  proprietor.  Price  for 
any  one  of  the  series,  $2  50  cts.  per  100  copies,  or  $20  per  1000. 

ID*  Postmasters  are  authorized  by  law  to  make  remittances  under  their  frank. 


NEW  YORK: 
PUBLISHED  BY  GREELEY  &  McELRATH, 

TRIBUNE  BUILDINGS,  160  NASSAU  STREET. 

1844. 

CEntered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1843,  by  Horace  Greeley,  in  the  Clerk's  office  of  th0 
District  Court  of  tho  United  States,  in  and  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York.] 

07"  EXTRACTS  in  Newspapers,  for  purpose  of  review,  are  allowed,  but  the  republication  of  this 

Tract  is  forbidden. 

[One  Sheet  Periodical,  Postage  under  100  miles  1$  cents  ;  over  100  miles  2J.] 


Money. 
MONEY  is  the  medium  of  trade,  or  the  means  by  which  trade  is  carried  on. 

Currency. 
Currency  is  that  which  passes  for  money,  and,  for  the  purposes  of  trade,  is  money. 

Different  kinds  of  Currency. 
The  classification  might  be  more  extended,  but  four  divisions  will  answer  our  purpose. 

1.  Gold  and  silver,  weighed  in  the  scales,  and  assayed  by  Chemistry. — This  is  the  currency 
of  the  world  at  large,  or  international  currency,  established  from  time  immemorial.     The 
stamp  they  bear  is  that  of  the  Creator,  and  the  tests  applied  to  them  are  the  Creator's  laws. 
It  is  the  only  money  recognized,  as  a  common  standard,  in  the  commercial  intercourse  of  na 
lions.     They  constitute  the  basis,  and  are  the  test  of  all  other  currencies.     All  other  curren 
cies  are  sure  to  be  proved  by  this,  and  none  can  stand  in  full  credit,  which  are  not  converti 
ble  into  this  on  demand. 

2.  The  legalized  currencies  of  particular  states  and  nations. — With  us  they  are  the  Federal 
coins,  certain  foreign  coins  adopted  as  a  tender,  and  bank  paper.     These  are  all  credit  cur 
rencies.     That  is,  the  coins  pass  on  the  authority  of  law,  and  on  the  credit  of  the  mint  as 
says  ;  and  the  bank  notes  pass  on  the  faith  of  being  convertible  into  specie  on  demand.     Of 
the  two,  it  will  be  found  that  the  faith  required  for  the  use  of  coins,  is  greater  than  that  exer 
cised  in  the  use  of  redeemable  paper,  first,  because  paper  is  tested  every  day  by  somebody  at 
the  bank  ;  secondly,  because  coins  are  rarely  tested ;  thirdly,  because  they  are  seldom  found 
to  be  exactly  equal  to  their  credit  value;  fourthly,  because,  in  the  present  state  of  Ihe  arts, 
i hey  are  more  easily  counterfeited  than  paper;  fifthly,  because  they  are  inconvenient ;  and 
sixthly,  because  they  occasion  anxiety  and  hazard. 

3.  Ml  negotiable  promissory  notes,  bills  of  exchange,  letters  of  credit,  drafts,  checks,  bonds, 
mortgages,  and  a  great  variety  of  evidences  of  debt,  are  a  valid  and  very  common  currency  in 
the  trading  world.     Some  of  the  heaviest  amounts  of  commercial  transactions  are  done  in 
one  or  more  of  these  forms,  at  home,  and  with  remote  parts.     These  also  are  a  credit  cur 
rency. 

4.  Parole  currency,  or  currency  of  man's  word. — Among  the  yeomanry  of  our  country  po 
pulation,  more  business  is  transacted  by  this,  than  in  all  other  ways.     It  is  the  naked  and 
most  simple  form  of  credit,  and  an  honorable  proof  of  sound  morals.     But  it  is  an  actual 
currency,  and  one  of  no  less  importance,  than  moral  beauty.     It  is  perhaps  as  sound,  if  not 
sounder,  and  as  much  to  be  relied  on  as  any  other.     Certainly  it  is  greatly  used. 

Remark. 

These  statements  may  serve  to  show  the  practical  operation  of  the  great  principle  of  a 
credit  currency,  and  the  foundation  on  which  it  rests.  They  show,  too,  that  society  cannot 
exist,  nor  trade  go  on,  without  it. 

What  gives  credit  to  a  currency. 

It  is  indispensable  to  the  credit  of  a  common  currency,  that  it  be  always  convertible  into 
specie  on  demand.  Otherwise  its  credit  is  instantly  impaired,  and  it  sinks  just  in  proportion 
to  the  doubts  cast  over  the  prospects  of  redemption. 

The,  reason  of  this. 

It  is  because  gold  and  silver,  weighed  in  the  scales,  and  assayed  by  common  laws,  are  the 
universal  test. 

JVb  legislation  can  force  credit  into  a  currency. 

This  truth  is  settled  by  experience.  All  governments  have  tried  to  legislate  credit  into 
their  currencies,  but  without  avail.  France  tried  it  in  her  assignats ;  Great  Britain  has 
tried  it  in  various  modes ;  we  tried  it  in  our  Continental  money ;  despots  have  tried  it ;  but 
it  always  fails. 

The  reason. 

Gold  and  silver,  weighed,  is  the  only  common  currency  of  the  great  commercial  world. 
This  test  finds  its  way  everywhere,  into  all  countries,  and  to  all  currencies,  in  spite  of  legis 
lation,  or  the  will  of  despots,  and  says,  Pay  me  that  thou  ou-est  in  THIS  money,  or  in  that  which 
will  command  it.  Trade  is  voluntary,  as  between  two  parties,  and  cannot  be  forced.  It  is 
regulated  by  the  scales,  with  gold  or  silver  in  them.  The  moment  legislation  or  a  despotism 
says,  You  shall  take  my  currency  for  so  much,  if  it  will  not  bear  the  common  test,  it  is  not 
trade,  but/brce. 


The  conventional  law  of  the  great  commercial  world,  gold  and  silver  in  the  scales,  is  more 
potent  than  the  legislation  of  states  and  nations,  or  the  arm  of  despots.  It  cripples  both,  the 
moment  they  attempt  to  contend  against  it. 

What  constitutes  the  value  of  gold  and  silver* 

It  is  not  the  fact  that  they  are  money,  but  the  fact  that  they  are  in  demand  for  a  great  va 
riety  of  purposes  of  utility,  art,  and  ornament,  on  account  of  their  peculiar  and  excellent 
qualities.  Money  is  only  one  of  the  innumerable  uses  to  which  they  are  applied,  and  it  is  be 
cause  they  are  in  demand  for  these  other  uses  that  they  have  such  value  in  the  shape  of  mo 
ney.  It  is  this  demand  alone  that  sustains  the  value  of  g  "Id  and  silver  coins,  and  of  bullion 
employed  as  money. 

What  has  given  to  gold  and  silver  the  office  of  money. 

It  is  the  demand  above  spoken  of — a  demand  existing  from  time  immemorial,  and  which 
is  likely  always  to  exist.  If  so,  and  only  for  that,  gold  and  silver  will  always  be  the  money 
of  the  world,  as  they  always  have  been. 

The  proportion  of  the  gold  and  silver  used  as  money. 

It  is  estimated,  that  trade  requires  about  one  sixth  or  one  seventh  of  the  gold  and  silver  of 
the  world  for  the  uses  of  money ;  and  the  amount  devoted  to  this  function  increases  or  di 
minishes,  according  to  the  activity  and  extent  of  trade.  When  trade  requires  more,  more 
appears  in  the  form  of  money ;  and  when  it  requires  less,  the  excess  is  absorbed  by  other 
demands,  or  lies  in  deposite,  waiting  for  the  more  profitable  uses  of  trade. 

Scarcity  of  Money. 

It  is  stagnation  in  trade  that  goes  by  tbj<*  name.  There  is  always  money  enough,  and 
more  than  enough,  for  the  demands  of  trade.  When  trade  invokes  money,  it  is  sure  to  come, 
first,  because  gold  and  silver,  used  as  money,  are  more  profitable  than  in  other  applications; 
and  secondly,  because  there  are  always  traders  who  can  command  it,  and  who  will  be  sure 
to  do  so  when  they  can  profit  by  it.  It  is  not,  therefore,  the  non-existence  of  money  that 
produces  what  is  called  scarcity ;  but  the  want  of  profit  in  the  use  of  it. 

Where  lies  the  responsibility  of  stagnation  in  trade. 

Government  can  facilitate  or  embarrass,  revive  or  destroy  the  trade  of  a  nation.  It  is  fair 
to  hold  the  Government  responsible  in  this  matter.  The  maxim  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  "  Lei 
the  people  take  care  of  themselves,  and  the  Government  take  care  of  themselves,"  is  as 
destructive  as  it  is  fallacious.  It  is  subverting  the  design  of  Government.  It  destroys  the 
legitimate  relations  between  the  two  parties.  It  is  monstrous.  The  appropriate  function 
of  Government  is  a  parental  care  of  the  people  and  their  interests;  but  this  maxim  destroys 
this  relation  entirely.  No  wonder  at  the  result.  If  the  Government  would  let  the  people 
take  care  of  themselves,  they  would. 

The  Constitutional  fender. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  has  wisely  ordered,  that  "  no  State  shall  make  any* 
thing  but  gold  and  silver  coins  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts."  The  effect,  and  doubtless  the 
design  of  this  rule,  is  to  keep  the  way  open  for  the  only  legitimate  test  for  all  currencies, 
viz.,  gold  and  silver  weighed  in  the  scales.  The  Constitution  itself  goes  no  farther  than  the 
test  of  coins,  which  is  imperfect ;  but  the  aim  of  Government  in  the  mint  assays,  is  to  keep 
the  coins  as  near  as  possible  to  the  test  of  the  scales,  which  is  near  enough  for  all  practical 
purposes,  though  seldom  exact. 

Jl  false  notion. 

Some  aver,  that  the  Constitutional  tender,  gold  and  silver  coins,  is  the  only  Constitutional 
currency.  This  cannot  be  maintained,  first,  because  the  rule  itself  grows  out  of  the  fact, 
and  is  based  upon  the  fact  of  the  existence  and  use  of  other  currencies,  and  comes  in  to  for 
bid  that  any  other  currency  should  be  forced  upon  the  public,  by  forcing  it  on  creditors.  So 
long  as  the  creditor  may  lawfully  demand  gold  and  silver  coins  in  payment  of  debts,  his  rights 
are  sufficiently  well  secured.  Secondly,  to  put  an  interpretation  on  the  Constitution,  which 
was  contrary  to  the  practice  of  the  time,  and  which  interferes  with  the  necessities  of  society 
at  all  times,  would  be  absurd.  Thirdly,  the  rule,  as  we  interpret  it,  is  all-sufficient,  as  it 
leaves  all  currencies  open  to  the  test  of  gold  and  silver  weighed. 

The  political  effect  of  this  rule. 

The  world  is  full  of  traders  in  money,  or  in  the  variety  of  currencies.     The  consequence. 

19 


tinder  this  law  of  the  Constitution,  is,  that  every  variety  of  currency  is  every  day  and  every 
hour  brought  to  the  fundamental  standard,  gold  and  silver.  This  is  the  practical  effect  of 
the  law,  which  was  doubtless  its  intention,  and  which  is  as  good  a  protection  of  the  public 
against  laise  and  spurious  currencies,  as  society  can  conveniently  furnish. 

What  the  people  will  have. 

In  a  free  country,  and  with  a  trading,  enterprising  people,  it  is  of  no  use  to  legislate 
against  currencies,  which  the  convenience  of  the  public  requires,  and  which  the  people  will 
have,  law  or  no  law.  They  are  the  best  judges  of  their  wants  and  necessities.  A  State, 
for  example,  by  an  act  of  legislation,  forbids  the  use  of  bank  notes  less  than  five  dollars; 
but  if  the  people  want  them,  smaller  notes  rush  in  from  other  States,  and  the  law  is  nullified. 
A  State,  it  may  be,  thinks  it  best  to  try  for  an  exclusive  hard  money  currency  by  suppress 
ing  banks  of  issue  and  circulation.  Immediately  the  country  will  be  flooded  with  notes 
issued  on  the  credit  of  private  and  irresponsible  persons,  "  payable  in  goods  at  my  store,"  at 
my  price,  and  such  like  ;  or  payable  in  notes  of  a  foreign  State,  if  five  or  ten  dollars  shall  be 
presented  at  once,  which  is  always  inconvenient ;  and  the  chances  are  many  to  one,  that,  in 
the  end,  they  will  not  be  paid  at  all.  Nevertheless,  the  people  will  use  even  such  a  cur 
rency,  in  spite  of  all  law. 

Congress  refused  to  re-charter  the  Banks  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  forbade  the 
issue  of  notes  less  than  five  dollars,  under  severe  penalties.  The  consequence  was,  that  the 
depreciated  paper  of  banks  foreign  to  the  District,  rushed  in ;  private  persons  set  up  bank 
ing  without  authority,  and  threw  out  notes  payable  in  foreign  paper,  on  conditions  little  bet 
ter  than  not  payable  at  all ;  shinplasters  from  unknown  persons,  of  unknown  value,  and  of 
all  denominations,  from  sixpence  upwards,  were  thick  as  leaves  in  autumn ;  and  members  of 
the  Government,  law  makers  and  law  administrators,  were  compelled  to  use  them,  in  the 
face  of  their  own  penalties. 

It  is  because  the  people  will  have  a  paper  currency,  however  bad;  or  because  they  will 
use  it,  whoever  utters  it,  or  whatever  be  the  terms  of  redemption.  Such  is  the  experience 
of  the  country. 

Jin  exclusive  hard  money  currency  impracticable. 

As  we  have  seen,  coins  are  a  credit  currency ;  but  some  think  we  ought  to  have  no  other. 
A  moment's  reflection  will  show,  that  the  present  amount  and  activity  of  trade  could  not 
possibly  be  carried  on  by  such  a  currency.  If,  for  example,  all  the  trade  of  the  city  of  New 
York  were  forced  into  this  mode,  it  would  probably  take  all  the  dealers  to  count  it,  and  all 
the  porters  and  carters  to  deliver  it ;  if  all  the  trade  of  the  United  States  were  compelled  to 
be  carried  on  in  this  way.  it  might  require  all  our  navy  to  protect  the  many  millions  of  spe 
cie  that  would  be  constantly  afloat,  and  the  army  to  guard  the  many  millions  more  passing 
by  land,  besides  all  other  expenses  and  hazards  of  transportation.  The  bare  expense  of  an 
exclusive  metallic  currency,  for  the  present  amount  of  the  trade  of  the  world,  would  in  a 
short  time  be  equal  to  its  entire  value.  Such  a  currency  would,  therefore,  be  perfectly 
impracticable.  It  would  stop  itself,  and  stop  trade,  except  in  the  small  way  of  barbarians 
An  exclusive  hard  money  currency  seems  to  have  stopped  at  the  line  which  separates  bar 
barism  from  civilisation,  freedom  from  despotism. 

The  best  currency. 

Except  for  small  cash,  in  the  way  of  change,  and  so  long  as  the  currency  is  so  regulated 
as  to  be  convertible  into  specie  on  demand,  the  best  currency  is  that  which  combines  con 
venience  and  the  least  intrinsic  value  ;  and  that  is  paper,  which  costs  almost  nothing.  No 
thing  is  more  convenient,  and  nothing  costs  less.  Hence  its  use.  All  that  the  holders  of 
paper  money  want  to  know,  is,  that  it  is  good  for  its  face,  and  will  pass  for  that ;  in  other 
words,  that  the  bank  will  pay  specie  for  it ;  and  that  makes  it  good.  The  less  its  intrinsic 
value,  so  much  the  better.  When  it  is  too  much  worn  for  use,  the  bank  takes  it,  and 
nothing  is  lost ;  if  it  should  be  burnt,  or  sunk  in  the  sea,  or  dropped  by  the  way  and  never 
found,  still  nothing  is  lost,  except  to  the  owner ;  and  he  may  be  indemnified,  if  he  can  prove 
his  loss,  and  specify  the  note  or  notes.  In  such  a  case,  the  bank  is  obliged  to  pay  him,  dol 
lar  for  dollar. 

It  is  apparent,  therefore,  that  paper  is  the  best  currency  in  the  world,  so  long  as  it  is  good 
for  the  amount  in  specie.  It  is-most  convenient,  least  expensive,  and  the  safest.  Among 
the  inventions  of  trade,  it  is  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  modern  civilisation. 

The  proper  functions  of  gold  and  silver  as  money. 

^  Except  for  small  cash  or  change,  trade  requires  but  a  very  small  fraction  of  the  gold  and 
silver  employed  in  the  office  of  money,  to  be  in  actual  circulation ;  nor  is  it  possible  it  should 

20 


be,  in  the  present  amount  and  activity  of  trade.  It  is  more  economical,  as  well  as  more  con 
venient  and  more  safe,  it  is  absolutely  necessary,  that  the  great  bulk  of  it  should  He  in 
deposit  as  the  basis  of  the  circulating  medium.  It  does  not  require  to  be  moved  at  all, 
except  in  such  quantities  as  may  be  necessary  to  restore  the  balance  of  trade  between  com 
mercial  points,  when  one  has  become  indebted  to  another,  as  New  York  to  Boston,  or  Phila 
delphia,  or  Baltimore,  or  Cincinnati,  or  New  Orleans,  and  vice  versa.  In  such  cases  of  the 
indebtedness  of  one  place  to  another,  which  cannot  be  settled  in  the  way  of  trade,  specie 
travels  to  balance  the  account.  In  the  same  manner,  present  demands  are  settled  between 
our  own  and  foreign  countries,  on  whichever  side  they  may  be.  Except  for  this  great  func 
tion,  the  great  bulk  of  specie  lies  still,  and  is  represented  in  the  trading  world  by  more  con 
venient  and  less  expensive  currencies.  Such  is  and  necessarily  always  will  be  the  actual 
operation  of  the  commercial  world. 

The  American  Banking  System. 

It  is  natural,  certainly  best,  that  the  banking  system  of  every  country  should  be  adapted 
to  the  genius  and  wants  of  the  people.  Hence,  banking,  as  it  grew  up  among  us,  had  re 
spect  to  the  resources  of  the  country,  and  the  enterprise  of  our  population.  "  Money  makes 
the  mare  go."  We  had  great  resources,  but  wanted  means  to  develope  them,  and  thus  to 
augment  our  wealth.  To  this  end  an  augmentation  of  the  circulating  medium,  over  and 
above  the  specie  basis,  seemed  to  be  required.  How  could  this  fairly  and  prudently  be  done? 

Why  thu-s: — Here  is  real  estate  worth  at  any  time  a  hundred  thousand  dollars ;  and  here 
are  ten  thousand  dollars  in  gold  and  silver.  Put  these  one  hundred  and  ten  thousand  dollars 
together,  under  statute  regulations,  as  a  capital  held  liable  for  the  debts  of  its  trustees  in 
their  corporate  capacity,  and  give  them  leave  to  issue  on  this  basis  not  more  than  thirty 
thousand  dollars  of  a  paper  currency,  for  which  this  capital  is  held  exclusively  liable.  If  the 
trust  is  honestly  administered — and  the  penalties  of  fraud  should  be  exemplary — the  security 
is  ample,  and  the  public  are  safe.  In  case  of  suspension,  the  capital  is  three  to  one  of  the 
claims  against  it. 

Now,  although  this  case  does  not  indicate  all  the  usual  functions  of  banking,  nor  in  all 
cases  its  exact  shapes,  it  is  sufficient  to  characterize  the  great  principle  of  our  American 
system,  to  wit,  to  provide  a  circulating  medium  equal  to  the  wants  of  the  country,  with  a 
suitable  regard  to  the  safety  of  bill-holders  and  other  creditors. 

How  such  a  system  operates. 

With  the  exuberance  of  our  resources  and  enterprise,  it  affords  the  means  of  multiplying 
wealth  in  a  manifold  degree.  Instead  of  one  dollar  to  trade  with,  we  have  several,  and  they 
are  all  good,  being  convertible  into  specie  on  demand;  or  if,  in  an  extraordinary  crisis,  the 
banks  are  forced  to  suspend  for  a  season,  the  notes  are  still  good,  while  the  capital  liable  is 
two,  three,  or  five  to  one  of  the  demands. 

The  hazards  of  such  a  system. 

When  properly  managed — and  the  law  should  secure  this  end — the  only  hazard  is  that  ol 
suspension  in  an  extraordinary  emergency  of  trade.  Rightly  understood,  this  need  be  no  sub 
ject  of  alarm,  as  it  is  known  by  the  conditions  of  the  law,  that  the  banks  are  allowed  to  issue 
more  paper  than  they  have  specie  in  deposit ;  and  consequently,  if  surprised  by  a  run,  or 
by  a  demand  in  excess  of  the  deposits,  that  they  are  obliged  to  suspend.  But  the  abundance 
of  other  capital  held  liable,  is  a  sufficient  security. 

The  benefits. 

It  augments  the  circulating  medium,  the  soundness  of  which  cannot  be  questioned,  because 
it  is  proved  every  day  at  the  banks,  and  thus  gives  scope  to  enterprise,  and  increased  facili 
ties  to  trade.  It  is  to  this  system  of  a  sound  credit  currency,  that,  as  a  nation,  we  owe  our 
unrivalled  march  to  prosperity  and  wealth.  By  the  use  of  the  principle,  of  credit,  thus  modi 
fied  and  guarded,  it  has  anticipated  means,  and  produced  incalculable  wealth  out  of  resources 
which  otherwise  must  have  lain  dormant. 

The  Credit  principle. 

Credit  is  morality,  and  the  exact  measure  of  the  soundness  of  the  social  state.  To  think 
of  living  without  it,  is  turning  the  eye  and  footsteps  back  to  a  state  of  barbarism.  Credit  is 
the  moral  peculiarity  of  civilisation. 

Origin  of  the  war  on  the  credit  system  of  this  country. 

The  President  of  the  United  States — that  once  was — having  been  used  to  command,  and 
being  little  tolerant  of  opposition,  proposed,  without  any  right,  a  man  whom  he  wished  ap* 

21 


6 

pointed  president  of  one  of  the  branches  of  the  United  States  Bank  ;  but  Ihe  head  and  di 
rectors  of  that  institution,  very  unwisely  perhaps,  declined  the  ofier.  Whereupon,  the  Pre 
sident  of  the  United  States  flew  into  a  passion,  and  swore  the  destruction  of  the  bank.  "  Be 
hold,  how  great  a  matter  a  little  fire  kindleth  !"  The  said  President  of  the  United  Slates, 
when  he  came  into  power,  as  much  expected  to  sign  a  bill  to  re-charter  the  bank,  as  to  do 
anything  else.  But  this  affair  altered  the  case,  and  he  had  them  in  his  power. 

Stages  of  the  conflict. 

On  the  part  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  1.  Veto  of  the  bill  to  re-charter  the  bank. 
2.  Eemoval  of  Deposits.  3.  Loaning  the  Deposits.  4.  Specie  circular.  5.  Invoking  the 
multiplication  of  State  banks. 

.,  First  effect. 

The  destruction  of  that  part  of  our  currency  that  was  properly  national,  struck  out  of  ex 
istence  the  balance  power,  the  regulator  of  the  currency  of  the  country,  in  consequence  of 
which  an  unsuitable  and  unsafe  number  of  State  banks,  and  a  vast  amount  of  merely  nomi 
nal  banking  capital,  sprung  up,  like  Jonah's  gourd,  to  die  as  quick. 

It  appears  by  the  letter  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  (House  Doc.  No.  Ill,  second 
session,  Twenty-sixth  Congress)  that  the  increase  of  banks  from  1820  to  1830,  was  only  22, 
and  the  increase  of  bank  capital,  for  the  same  period,  only  $8,000,000.  During  this  time 
the  influence  of  the  national  regulator  kept  the  unhealthy  growth  of  State  banks  in  check. 
But,  behold  the  change  !  From  the  same  document,  as  above,  it  appears  that  the  increase  of 
banks,  from  1830  to  1840,  was  392,  (including  branches,  571),  and  that  the  increase  of  bank 
ing  capital  for  the  same  period,  was  $213,000,000 !  It  also  appears,  that  this  rapid  increase 
did  not  begin  till  the  fate  of  the  national  bank  was  sealed. 

Another  effect. 

A  large  portion,  of  these  banks  failed,  and  the  capital  vanished,  as  might  have  been  ex 
pected.  The  United  States  Almanac,  for  1843,  (which  we  suppose  is  good  authority),  states 
the  number  of  bank  failures,  as  a  consequence  of  the  revulsion  of  1837-42,  at  116;  the  losses 
on  bank  circulation  and  deposits,  $54,000,000;  and  on  bank  capital,  $248,000,000.  This  is 
a  heavy  reckoning  for  the  loss  of  a  regulator.  But  the  effect  on  the  country,  in  all  forms,  is 
also  to  be  considered. 

Who  are  the  bank  gamblers  ? 

In  the  increase  of  banks,  from  1830  to  1840,  more  than  two  thirds  of  them  were  created  by 
that  political  party  that  has  taken  the  lead  in  denouncing  banks ;  and  well  they  might  de 
nounce  them,  for  more  than  half  of  their  own  creation  have  failed,  while  all  but  Jive  created 
by  their  opponents,  during  the  same  period,  had  resumed  specie  payments  early  in  1842,  thus 
proving  their  soundness. 

When  a  bank  failure  was  rare* 

During  the  existence  of  a  national  institution  as  a  balance  power,  it  was  seldom  the  coun 
try  witnessed  such  an  event  as  a  bank  failure ;  but  since  this  regulating  influence  was  re 
moved,  the  whole  country  has  been  devastated  by  bank  explosions;  and  the  United  States  bank 
itself,  after  it  became  a  State  institution,  was  swept  away  in  the  general  vortex. 

How  the  United  States  Bank  became  corrupt. 

There  is  no  evidence  that  this  bank  was  unsound,  while  it  was  a  national  institution,  but 
the  contrary,  if  the  proof  of  the  pudding  is  in  the  eating.  It  always  discharged  its  functions 
as  fiscal  agent  of  the  Government  with  fidelity,  without  reward  and  without  loss  to  the  pub 
lic  ;  it  yielded  up  the  Government  deposits  on  demand  ;  the  Government  stock  of  six  millions, 
and  the  dividends  thereon,  amounting  to  upwards  of  a  million,  were  all  realized ;  and  it  serv 
ed  the  country  equally  well  in  the  various  functions  of  supply,  regulator,  and  conservator  of 
the  currency.  No  man,  or  woman,  or  child,  ever  lost  anything  by  it. 

But,  being  driven  off  from  its  connection  with  the  general  Government,  it  was  compelled, 
with  its  large  capital,  to  take  refuge  under  the  wing  of  one  of  the  States,  where  there  was  no 
room  for  it.  It  was  like  putting  a  seventy-four  gun  ship  in  a  mill  pond.  Doomed  to  strug 
gle  against  the  continued  and  active  hostility  of  the  national  Executive,  it  was  tempted,  for 
the  employment  of  its  capital,  to  go  beyond  the  legitimate  sphere  of  banking,  into  the  field 
of  commercial  adventure,  and  commenced  buying  and  selling  cotton,  &c.,  thus  putting  in  jeo 
pardy  its  capital  and  credit,  till  all  was  lost  in  the  unanticipated  revulsion  of  trade.  Perse 
cution  furnished  the  plea  of  necessity;  necessity  led  to  crime;  and  crime  ended  in  ruin — pre 
cisely  as  a  man  becomes  a  bandit,  when  society  sets  itself  against  him  for  a  supposed  offence, 

22 


and  then  lives  on  the  spoils  of  his  victims.  It  was  the  action  of  the  genera.  Government, 
after  and  because  it  became  a  State  institution,  that  tempted  it  to  crime,  and  the  vengeance 
of  Federal  power  that  sealed  its  doom. 

Some  specific  results  of  this  contest. 

First,  the  balance  power  of  the  currency  was  broken  down.  What  followed  that,  we  have 
«een.  Next,  the  public  funds,  which  the  constitution  had  assigned  to  the  custody  of  the  legis- 
.ative  branch  of  the  Government,  got  into  wrong  hands.  Thirdly,  they  were  used,  in  the 
way  of  their  disposal,  to  carry  on  this  feud.  Fourthly,  loaning  the  depositvS  was  another 
stage  of  the  same  quarrel.  Some  forty  millions,  that  had  thus  been  forced  out  of  constitu 
tional  custody,  into  ninety-six  banks,  were  ordered  to  be  loaned — equally  unconstitutional. 
A  cashier  of  one  of  the  pet  banks,  in  Wall  street,  said,  (as  stated  by  Mr.  Webster  in  his 
speech  on  the  currency,  at  New  York,  1840),  "  he  hardly  knew  what  to  do,  for  he  was  or 
dered  to  loan  more  of  the  public  money  than  he  could  find  security  for."  The  money  was 
forced  on  speculators. 

The  effect  of  loaning  the  deposits. 

It  was  a  temptation,  an  enticement  to  general  extravagance  and  wild  speculation,  and  the 
whole  country,  individuals,  corporations,  and  States,  were  seduced  by  the  bait.  Banks  grew 
up  like  mushrooms,  States  launched  out  in  internal  improvements,  and  the  whole  community 
was  infected  with  the  madness  of  the  time.  The  inflation  of  credit,  produced  by  this  cause, 
was  unnatural,  and  doomed  to  burst.  Ordinarily,  trade,  in  its  natural  action,  though  in  con 
stant  vibration,  will  regulate  itself;  but  this  unnatural  impulse  forced  the  pendulum  to  a 
fearful  height,  and  its  backward  sweep  put  the  whole  machinery  out  of  order. 

Jl  proof of this. 

The  history  of  the  State  debts  shows,  that  from  1820  to  1825,  the  increase  of  State  bonds 
was  $12,000,000;  from  1825  to  1830,  the  increase  was  $13,000,000;  from  1830  to  1835, 
when  this  stimulant  began  to  operate,  the  increase  suddenly  rose  to  $40,000,000 ;  and  from 
1835  to  1840,  it  was  $109,000,000,  nearly  the  whole  of  which  was  issued  in  1835  and  1836, 
before  the  destruction  of  general  credit.  The  imports  of  1836,  tempted  by  the  same  seduc 
tive  influences,  were  $61,000,000  in  excess  of  the  exports;  and  the  home  speculations  and 
adventures,  prompted  by  this  cause,  were  on  the  same  scale  of  extravagance.  The  peoplt 
-were  unnaturally  stimulated  to  excess  by  the  action  of  the  general  Government. 

*fl  Compact. 

It  cannot  be  denied,  that  there  was  a  virtual  compact  in  these  encouragements  to  specula 
tion  held  out  by  the  general  Government  to  the  States  and  people  of  the  Union.  The  invest 
ment  of  the  surplus  revenue  in  State  bonds,  was  publicly  talked  of  in  Congress,  and  a  Sena 
tor,  regarded  as  an  organ  of  the  administration,  said  in  his  place,  "  that  he  was  not  afraid  to 
recommend  such  an  investment  of  the  national  funds,  as  the  States  would  issue  as  many  bonds 
as  the  Government  might  choose  to  buy."  That  the  seducer  should  afterwards  turn  round, 
and  accuse  and  berate  his  victims  for  the  crime  of  seduction,  was  not  very  kind. 

The  effects  of  the  specie  circular. 

That  was  cruel.  But  it  had  now  become  necessary  to  break  down  all  speculators,  thus 
tempted  into  the  field — individuals,  banks,  States,  and  all — in  order  to  break  down  the  prince 
of  speculators  at  Philadelphia.  The  specie  that  was  indispensable  to  sustain  even  tolerably 
the  excess  of  credit  occasioned  by  loaning  the  deposits,  was  suddenly  withdrawn  from  under 
this  stupendous  superstructure,  and  sent  to  places  where  it  was  not  wanted — and  down  came 
everything.  Individuals  went  down  in  heaps,  banks  blew  up  in  scores,  States  reeled  on  their 
foundations — and  the  whole  country  was  prostrated. 

Remai  ks. 

The  destruction  of  credit,  and  the  great  revulsion  of  trade  in  1837-42,  and  the  consequent 
calamities,  public  and  private,  have  been  ascribed  to  criminal  overtradincr,  extravagant  spe 
culations,  and  excessive  use  of  credit,  not,  perhaps,  untruthfully.  But  all  the  blame  has  been 
cast  on  the  people.  It  was  the  Government  that  brought  this  charge,  to  screen  their  own 
faults,  while  they  were  the  cause  of  it  all.  Nobody  ever  knew  trade  or  credit  hurt  itself, 
when  left  to  itself,  except  in  particular  instances.  A  man,  now  and  then,  may  commit  sui 
cide ;  but  a  whole  community  never  killed  themselves  in  a  heap ;  nor  did  trade  or  credit,  as 
the  attribute  of  a  people,  ever  commit  suicide.  It  is  too  sagacious,  too  vigilant,  and  has  too 
much  interest  at  stake.  It  would  be  a  paradox.  Nothing  but  high  and  overruling  causes, 
independent  of  itself  and  superior  to  itself,  can  disappoint  trade,  or  destroy  credit,  through- 

23 


8 

out  the  ranks  of  an  entire  community.  But  trade  and  credit,  with  all  their  sagacity,  could 
never  foresee  such  freaks  as  the  Government  of  this  country  has  played  with'  them,  or  such 
folly  and  rashness  as  they  have  been  doomed  to  encounter  in  the  governing  powers.  The 
trade  and  credit  of  the  country  fell  before  the  strong  arm  of  Government  arrayed  against  them 
in  forms  unanticipated,  and  till  the  facts  occurred,  inconceivable.  It  was  impossible  for  the 
nation  to  stand  up  under  such  fitful  and  disastrous  changes  of  public  policy,  on  such  momen 
tous  matters. 

Result. 

We  had  a  good  banking  system,  a  good  currency,  a  prosperous  state  of  trade,  and  were 
doing  well.  But — it  was  crushed. 

One  error  leads  to  a  thousand. 

It  may  ruin  a  world,  and  has  done  so.  The  removal  of  the  deposits  was  an  act  of  arbi 
trary  power  in  a  momentous  concern — it  was  a  violation  of  the  Constitution.  The  great 
machinery  of  public  finances,  once  out  of  order,  there  was  no  end  to  it.  It  is  not  rectified 
even  yet. 

The  functions  of  a  currency  in  the  body  politic. 

ft  is  as  blood  to  the  animal  economy.  Disturb  it,  or  vitiate  it,  or  impair  it,  or  tie  up  its 
veins,  or  overcharge  it,  or  drain  it,  or  dam  up  its  courses,  or  put  clogs  and  trammels  on  its 
action,  or  in  any  way  treat  it  rudely  and  unskilfully,  the  effect  is  precisely  the  same  on  the 
health  and  wealth  of  the  nation,  as  is  produced  by  a  like  treatment  of  the  vital  current, 
functions,  and  organs  of  the  human  body. 

Jl  Quack  Doctor. 

A  certain  doctor  gave  out  that  a  certain  great  animal  was  too  plethoric,  and  required 
bleeding;  but  the  blood  being  precious,  he  proposed  to  infuse  it  by  injection  into  the  bodies 
of  certain  other  animals  of  the  same  genus.  But  it  only  threw  them  into  a  fever.  He  then 
proposed  to  draw  it  off' again,  and  infuse  it  into  the  veins  of  the  people.  But  it  gave  the 
people  a  fever.  Then  he  thought  it  would  better  suit  the  bodies  of  the  backwoodsmen, 
and  he  gave  it  to  them  by  a  like  process.  But,  unfortunately,  all  the  bodies  thus  practised 
upon,  rather  grew  worse,  and  showed  symptoms  of  a  fatal  termination.  The  virus,  once 
communicated,  became  a  raging  epidemic.  States  caught  it,  cities  and  villages  caught  it,  all 
manner  of  corporations  caught  it,  individuals  caught  it,  the  whole  nation  was  seized  of  it, 
new  and  artificial  beings  started  into  mushroom  life,  to  get  a  little  of  the  blood,  and,  after  a 
feverish  existence,  died.  At  last,  the  fever  being  spent,  there  was  an  universal  collapse,  and 
all  remedies  failed  to  bring  the  patients  to. 

Can  this  country  do  without  a  bank  paper  medium  1 

We  have  shown  that  it  cannot  do  without  a  paper  medium,  nor  does  any  sensible  man 
dream  that  it  can.  The  question,  then,  is,  whether  we  shall  use  the  paper  of  private  and 
irresponsible  persons,  who  are  a  law  unto  themselves,  or  whether  we  shall  have  a  law-regu 
lated  currency,  involving  in  it  a  proper  responsibility  to  the  public  ?  Manifestly,  there  can 
be  but  one  answer  to  this  question.  The  people  have  decided  in  favor  of  a  mixed  currenc-Y, 
that  they  may  always  have  a  choice  between  gold,  silver,  and  paper. 

Question  of  a  national  paper  medium. 

The  next  question  is,  whether  it  is  best  for  the  States  alone  to  furnish  a  paper  currency, 
or  whether  we  shall  have  a  national  paper  medium  also  ?  If  experience  be  of  any  weight, 
•we  all  know  that  we  have  always  had  trouble,  and  infinite  trouble,  when  the  States  alone 
have  done  this.  It  was  so  before  we  had  a  national  paper  medium  ;  it  was  so  from  1811  to 
1816,  when  we  were  left  to  be  supplied  by  the  State  Banks  alone ;  and  we  again  find  it  has 
been  so  ever  since  the  national  paper  medium  has  been  last  withdrawn — nothing  but  trouble 
and  infinite  loss ;  whereas,  during  the  twice  twenty  years  of  a  national  paper  currency,  all 
went  well,  and  no  nation  ever  had  a  better  currency.  Are  not  these  facts  worth  something  1 
Ought  they  not  to  be  conclusive  ? 

Which  is  the  safest  ? 

It  is  a  notable  fact  that  neither  the  government  nor  people  have  ever  lost  the  first  cpnt  by 
a  national  bank,  and  that  both  and  all  have  realized  incalculable  benefits.  But  all  the 
cheating,  all  the  bank  frauds,  and  all  the  losses  complained  of,  as  falling  on  the  public 
through  the  agency  of  banks,  have  come  from  State  institutions.  These,  certainly,  are  prett? 
strong  facts. 


9 

It  is,  undoubtedly,  true  that  the  power  of  the  General  Government  over  a  national  insti 
tution,  to  prevent  fraud,  is  much  more  effective  than  that  of  the  States  over  their  institutions. 
The  skill  of  legislation  in  the  former  case,  is  of  a  higher  order,  as  combining  the  concentrated 
wisdom  of  the  nation,  and  they  are  exempt  from  log-rolling.  The  vigilance  of  the  nation  is 
greater — a  thousand  eyes  to  one.  It  would  be  next  to  impossible  for  a  national  institution  to 
cheat  the  public.  Although  accused  of  that  propensity,  if  tlie  charge  be  just,  the  fact  that 
it  has  not  been  done,  proves  that  it  could  not  be.  But  the  State  Banks  have  been  for  ever 
cheating  us,  and  never  so  much  as  in  the  absence  and  for  want  of  a  national  institution. 
When  the  cat  is  away,  the  mice  are  bold. 

But  it  is  the  moneyed  power  we  have  to  fear. 

As  to  that,  the  appeal  comes  too  late,  when  we  have  seen  a  bank  of  a  hundred  million 
power  crushed  by  the  hand  of  a  single  man,  and  that  without  the  least  difficulty,  in  the  mere 
wantonness  of  power.  The  power  over  banks  is  always  in  the  hands  of  government,  in  other 
words,  of  the  people,  at  whose  bidding  they  rise,  and  stand,  or  fall. 

Moreover,  if  it  is  moneyed  power  we  have  to  fear,  the  putting  out  of  the  way  of  a  na 
tional  bank  of  thirty-five  millions  of  capital,  to  give  place  to  some  four  hundred  state  banks, 
with  more  than  two  hundred  millions  of  capital,  was  something  like  jumping  out  of  the  frying- 
pan  into  the  fire.  That  we  did  jump  into  the  fire,  and  got  well  singed,  is,  alas,  too  true. 

Jin  Jlllegory. 

The  head  of  a  great  family  saw  the  big  old  Newfoundland  family  dog,  in  his  path,  and 
cried  out  unto  his  sons — "MAD  DOG  !"  Whereupon  the  youngsters  seized  their  rifles,  gave 
chace,  and  shot  him  down.  But  it  turned  out  that  he  was  in  no  wise  mad  at  all,  and  the  loss 
was  grievous.  He  had  been  especially  useful  in  keeping  the  numerous  pack  of  small  dogs 
in  order.  The  moment  he  was  dead,  the  small  dogs  broke  loose,  many  of  them  ran  rnad  and 
bit  numbers  of  the  family.  N.  B. — One  of  the  family  took  the  carcase  of  the  old  Newfound 
land,  and  undertook  to  galvanize  it.  He  jumped  a  little,  and  then  fell  down,  to  jump 
no  more. 

The  regulating  power  of  a  national  paper  medium. 

In  the  absence  of  this,  the  State  banks  have  always  played  the  mischief  with  us ;  in  its 
presence,  no  State  bank  of  unsound  capital  has  dared  to  make  its  appearance;  or  if  so,  its 
frauds  were  sure  to  be  detected  and  exposed.  Another3  most  important  office  of  a  national 
paper  medium,  as  we  have  seen,  has  been  to  repress  the  excessive  increase  of  banks  and 
bank  capital. 

The  universal  credit  of  a  national  paper  medium. 

This  is  indispensable  to  the  domestic  trade  and  the  domestic  commercial  relations  of  the 
people  of  this  country.  A  man  starts  on  a  journey  with  current  money  of  the  State  banks, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  first  stage,  it  becomes  uncurrent.  The  further  he  goes,  the  worse  it  is; 
and  the  time  has  been,  when  a  traveller  might  lose  fifty  per  cent,  on  the  money  he  set  out 
•with,  before  he  gets  to  the  end  of  his  journey.  It  is  the  same  in  remittances.  We  have  lost 
forty-five  per  cent,  on  money  received  as  a  remittance  at  the  city  of  Washington,  which  was 
ac  par  in  the  State  where  it  came  from.  But  between  the  remotest  points  of  the  Union,  the 
discount  on  a  national  currency  could  not  exceed  one  cent  and  a  half  on  a  hundred ;  generally 
it  would  be  nothing ;  rarely  over  half  a  cent. 

The  credit  of  a  national  paper  medium  abroad. 

It  is  a.s  good  at  London,  Paris,  St.  Petersburg,  Constantinople  or  Canton,  as  at  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  or  New  Orleans ;  whereas,  our  State  bank  paper  is  good  for  nothing  abroad. 
Such  credit  of  our  national  paper  medium  abroad  is  of  incalculable  importance  to  a  great 
commercial  nation  like  ours,  and  has  been  one  of  the  proudest  attributes  of  our  national  cha 
racter.  ' 

Influence  of  a  national  paper  medium  on  domestic  exchanges. 

It  regulates,  equalizes  and  facilitates  them  between  the  remotest  points  of  the  Union,  so 
that  all  accounts  of  debt  and  credit  at  these  distances,  can  be  balanced  at  a  most  trifling  rate 
of  discount. 

A  national  paper  medium,  indeed,  is  almost,  if  not  quite  as  necessary,  as  the  constitutional 
tender,  and  discharges  nearly  the  same  functions — exactly  the  same,  so  long  as  it  is  redeem 
able  in  specie. 

•   Jl  national  paper  medium  insures  a  sound  paper  currency  everywhere. 
Nobody  would  tolerate  an  unsound  national  bank  currency,  nor  have  we  ever  had  one; 
2  25 


10 

nor  would  a  national  institution  tolerate  an  unsound  State  Dank  currency;  Consequently, 
in  the  co-existence  of  these  two  kinds,  we  are  sure  to  have  an  universally  sound  currency. 
But  whenever  these  have  ceased  to  co-exist,  we  have  had  a  bad  currency. 

JH  national  paper  currency  indispensable  to  supply  an  adequate  circulating 

medium. 

Everybody  feels,  and  it  is  apparent,  that  we  have  not  an  adequate  circulating  medium, 
now, — 1843.  It  has  been  growing  less  and  less,  tighter  and  tighter,  for  ?.  longtime.  In  some 
parts  of  the  interior  of  Pennsylvania,  the  people  have  been  obliged  to  divide  bank  notes  into 
halves,  quarters,  eighths,  and  so  on,  and  agree  from  necessity  to  use  them  as  money.  In 
Ohio,  with  all  her  abundance,  it  has  been  hard  to  get  money  to  pay  taxes.  The  Sheriff  of 
Muskingum  County,  as  stated  by  the  Guernsey  Times,  in  the  summer  of  1842,  sold  at  auc 
tion  one  four-horse  waggon,  at  $5  50 ;  10  hogs  at  6J-  cents  each ;  two  horses  (said  to  be 
worth  from  $50  to  $75  each)  at  $2  each  ;  two  cows  at  $1  each  ;  a  barrel  of  sugar  for  $1  50 ; 
and  a  "  store  of  goods"  at  that  rate.  In  Pike  County,  Mo.,  as  stated  by  the  Hannibal  Jour 
nal  last  winter,  the  Sheriff  sold  3  horses  at  $1  50  each;  1  large  ox  at  12J  cents;  5  cows, 
2  steers,  and  1  calf,  the  lot,  at  $3  25 ;  20  sheep  at  I3i  cents  each  ;  24  hogs,  the  lot,  at  25 
cents;  1  eight-day  clock,  at  $2  50  ;  lot  of  tobacco,  7  or  8  hogsheads,  at  $5  ;  3  stacks  of  hay, 
each,  at  25  cents ;  and  1  stack  of  fodder,  at  25  cents. 

Thus  has  property  been  sacrificed  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  because  there  was  no  money 
to  buy  it.  But  we  need  not  prove  what  all  know. 

The  amount  of  our  circulating  medium  at  different  periods. 

By  a  Congressional  Document,  before  quoted,  (No.  Ill,  H.  R.  2d  Sess.  26th  Congress),  it 
appears,  that  the  circulation  of  the  banks,  in  1830,  was  $61,000,000 ;  in  1835,  $103,000,000 ; 
in  1836,  $140,000,000;  in  1837,  $149,000,000;  in  183 8,  $116,000,000;  in  1839,  $135,000,000; 
in  1840,  $106,000,000  ;  and  the  United  States  Almanac  quotes  it  for  1841  at  $115,000,000, 
and  for  1842,  at  $63,800,000.  It  is  now,  in  1843,  supposed  to  be  about  $50,000.000 — proba 
bly  less.  Some  put  it  at  $40,000,000.  The  last  we  think  is  nearest  the  truth.' 

Some  take  it  for  granted,  that  the  circulation  of  the  years  of  excessive  trade,  1835  and 
1836,  to  the  explosion  of  1837,  was  much  greater  than  usual,  and  greater 'than  was  neces 
sary  for  a  suitable  amount  of  trade.  That  it  was  very  much  more  active  than  usual,  is 
doubtless  true.  But  the  excesses  of  that  time  did  not  necessarily  require  an  excess  of  the 
circulating  medium,  nor  is  there  evidence  that  it  was  materially  swelled  on  that  account. 
The  excesses  were  committed  chiefly  by  the  abuse  of  credit,  though  doubtless  the  actual  cir 
culation  was  many  times  more  active  than  usual ;  but  it  does  not  appear,  that  it  was  much, 
if  at  all  greater  in  amount  than  the  trade  of  the  country,  in  a  prosperous  state,  usually 
requires. 

The  circulating  medium  of  England. 

In  1836,  it  was  $280,000,000,  while  the  aggregate  of  her  imports  and  exports,  for  the 
same  year,  was  $480,000,000.  Manifestly,  other  things  being  equal,  England  could  do  a 
given  amount  of  business,  connected  with  imports  and  exports,  on  a  less  amount  of  circulat 
ing  medium  than  we  can,  as  it  is  chiefly  done  at  London  and  Liverpool,  where  the  circulation 
is  prodigiously  active.  Yet  our  circulating  medium  in  1836  was  only  $140,000,000  for  an 
aggregate  of  $318,000,000  of  imports  and  exports.  An  equal  proportion  of  circxilation  for 
us  would  have  been  about  $190,000,000.  These  facts  may  serve  to  show,  that  as  a  commer 
cial  rival  of  England,  we  shall  stand  a  poor  chance,  with  a  circulating  medium  of  $50,000,000, 
while  she  employs  nearly  six  times  that  amount.  Our  field  of  trade  is  vastly  wider,  and  our 
uninvoked  resources  immeasurably  greater;  but  for  want  of  an  adequate  circulating  medium, 
•we  can  neither  cultivate  the  one,  nor  call  out  the  other,  as  our  interests  claim.  Relatively, 
we  are  at  present  in  the  retrograde  movement. 

Our  imports  of  Specie. 

From  Senate  Document,  No.  290,  1st  Session,  26th  Congress,  Report  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  it  appears  that,  from  1834  to  1838,  the  imports  of  specie  were  in  our  favor  by 
an  aggregate  of  nearly  fifty  millions  in  five  years  ;  but  in  1839,  the  balance  was  against  us, 
as  compared  with  1838,  by  about  twenty-five  millions,  with  a  positive  loss  of  eight  millions, 
The  drain  of  specie  from  us  continued,  till  the  Tariff  of  1842  put  a  stop  to  it,  ana  for  the  first 
six  months  of  1843,  the  return  of  specie  upon  us  has  been  at  the  rate  of  nearly  thirty  millions 
a  year.  Never,  in  our  history,  have  we  had  such  a  rapid  acquisition  of  the  basis  of  a  circu 
lating  medium.  And  surely,  it  was  wanted  bad  enough. 

What  occasions  a  general  bank  suspension. 

It  is  the  want  of  a  suitable  Tariff  to  keep  money  in  the  country.     By  buying  of  foreign 

26 


11 

nations  more  than  we  sell  to  them,  the  balance  of  trade  falls  against  us,  which  can  only  be 
settled  by  drafts  on  our  specie.  As  most  of  this  lies  in  bank  vaults,  the  notes  of  our 
banks  are  bought  up  by  the  agents  of  foreign  creditors,  directly  or  indirectly,  and  presented 
for  payment  in  specie  for  exportation,  to  satisfy  these  foreign  demands.  The  only  alternatives 
left,  are  for  the  banks  to  suspend,  or  the  country  be  deprived  of  a  circulating  medium. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  for  a  general  bank  suspension  to  occur  under  suitable  Tariff  regula 
tions,  uniformly  maintained  by  our  Government.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  our  foreign  indebted- 
ness,  in  the  shape  of  state  bonds,  &c.,  might,  in  a  given  exigency,  occasion  the  same  result, 
on  the  same  principle.  But  a  suitable  Tariff  may  be  made  to  operate,  in  the  manner  of  a 
sinking  fund,  to  settle  the  whole  of  that  account,  and  our  country  be  amply  supplied,  in  the 
meantime,  with  a  circulating  medium. 

It  cannot  be  objected  to  this,  that  the  country  is  taxed  to  pay  this  foreign  debt.  It  is  not  so, 
while  domestic  competition  in  the  manufactures  protected,  makes  the  articles  cheaper 
than  they  would  be  in  open  and  free  trade  with  foreign  countries,  and  while  the  market  for 
the  products  of  our  own  soil  is  not  injured,  but  rather  improved,  as  can  be  shown.  Conse 
quently,  all  parties,  and  the  country  itself,  are  enriched,  except  that  the  profits  of  the  import 
trade  may  be  diminished.  Bui  what  right  have  importers  to  demand  an  extent  of  trade  in 
their  line,  that  shall  bring  a  balance  against  the  country,  as  heretofore,  and  thus  impoverish 
us  all  ? 

Trade  a  part  of  National  jurisdiction. 

"We  have  a  republic  of  trade  to  take  care  of,  as  well  as  a  jurisdiction  of  soil,  and  the  rights 
of  both  are  equally  sacred.  The  former  is  always  more  exposed  to  foreign  influence  than 
the  latter.  We  may  get  into  the  hands  of  foreigners  before  we  kno,w  it.  Everybody  knows 
that  a  producer  will  come  to  ruin,  that  buys  moie  than  he  sells,  and  that  he  cannot  get  rich 
unless  he  sells  more  than  he  buys.  It  is  precisely  with  a  nation  as  with  an  individual.  If 
the  Government  allows  the  traders  with  foreign  parts  to  run  the  nation  in  debt,  by  bringing 
to  the  home  market  more  than  they  carry  to  foreign  markets,  the  nation  must,  sooner  or  hiler, 
stop  payment,  and  a  general  bank  suspension  is  the  mode,  or  a  ruinous  contraction  of  the  cir 
culating  medium.  Traders  between  nations  will  make  all  they  can  out  of  both  sides,  though 
a  nation  be  ruined.  They  would  not  injure  the  country  wantonly,  but  they  must  get  rich, 
and  be  "  merchant  princes."  The  responsibility  lies  with  the  Government  that  permitted  it. 

Banks  in  a  state  of  suspension  may  yet  be  sound. 

Their  degree  of  soundness  is  daily  proved  by  the  discount  at  the  money  brokers,  whose 
counters  are  the  specie  standard.  There  it  is  quickly  found  out,  whether  the  discount  is 
merely  the  usual  penalty  of  suspension,  or  whether  there  is  fear  for  the  bank. 

Jl  duty  of  Government. 

It  is  the  duty  of  Government  to  provide,  that  there  be  no  necessity  or  apology  for  a  general 
Dank  suspension,  by  its  care  of  the  trade  of  the  country.  The  necessity  of  a  general  suspen 
sion  arises  from  our  buying  of  foreign  countries  more  than  we  sell  to  them — in  other  words, 
running  in  debt.  A  nation  is  an  individual  among  nations,  and,  like  any  individual  person, 
may  be  forced  to  stop  payment.  Nothing  but  the  Government  of  a  nation  is  competent  to 
bar  this  result,  by  stepping  in  and  saying  to  importers,  Ye  shall  not  bring  goods  here  to  run 
us  in  debt.  In  other  words,  by  enacting  a  suitable  Tariff. 

Reason  of  this  obligation. 

Trade  is  a  complicated  machinery,  of  many  parts,  many  chains,  and  many  links,  each 
trader  occupying  the  place  of  a  link,  connected  with  others  by  the  interest  of  the  parties.  It 
is  the  interest  of  the  importer  to  buy  and  sell  all  he  can,  tempting  his  customers,  till  they 
are  involved  in  bankruptcy.  It  is  impossible  for  the  public,  the  secondary  parties,  to  know 
that  bankruptcy  is  coming,  till  it  has  come.  But  the  Government  can  know  it,  if  they  are  fit 
to  be  governors,  and  ought  to  prevent  it. 

There  can  be  no  adequate  basis  of  a  currency  without  an  adequate  Tariff. 
In  the  absence  of  a  suitable  Tariff,  specie  is  withdrawn  from  the  country,  as  was  the  case 
m  the  operation  of  the  Compromise  Act,  in  its  last  stages,  by  the  fall  of  duties.  It  then 
becomes  impossible  to  support  an  adequate  circulating  medium  redeemable  in  specie.  But 
the  Tariff  of  1842  is  now  restoring  to  us  the  basis  of  a  sound  currency,  and  if  it  should  not 
be  disturbed,  there  is  every  prospect  that  we  shall,  ere  long,  have  an  abundant  and  sound 
circulating  medium.  But  nothing  could  be  more  unfortunate  for  the  country,  than  to  check 
this  return  of  specie,  by  impairing  the  instrument  that  brings  it  back. 

27 


12 

Jl  contingent  prospect. 

^  We  have  now  a  chance  of  being  rescued  from  our  great  misfortunes,  if  we  should  be  pru 
dent  enough  to  let  well  alone.  Life  is  returning,  vigor  begins  to  reanimate  the  body  politic, 
the  nation,  lately  shorn  of  its  locks,  shows  symptoms  of  reviving  energy.  By  fostering  the 
labor  and  stimulating  the  enterprise  of  our  own  population,  and  protecting  our  manufactures 
from  a  ruinous  competition  with  the  sejf  labor  of  foreign  despots,  we  are  laying  a  sure  foun 
dation  for  a  sound  and  adequate  currency ;  but,  undermine  this  structure,  prostrate  this 
agency,  and  we  are  down  again  as  a  nation. 

The  greatest  good  of  the  greatest  number. 

There  may  be  a/ew  who  will  make  less  money  in  consequence  of  the  Tariff.  The  import 
ing  merchant,  whose  interest  it  is  to  buy  as  cheap  as  he  can,  sell  as  high  as  he  can,  and  as 
quick  as  he  can,  might,  doubtless,  acquire  more  wealth,  if  trade  were  perfectly  free  to  him  all 
the  world  over.  So,  also,  might  it  be  with  his  carrier,  till  a  foreign  carrier  shall  underbid 
1dm,  when  free  trade  shall  be  open  to  that  vocation.  But  the  great  mass  of  our  population 
Would  suffer  by  it ;  for  there  is  not  a  single  article  of  our  domestic  manufactures  which 
will  not  come  cheaper  by  competition  under  protection  than  without  it,  and  the  products  of 
our  soil  will  have  a  better  market.  We  produce  certain  things  which  foreign  nations  must 
kave,  and  what  they  do  not  want  they  have  already  prohibited. 

Political  anatomy. 

As  a  nation  depletion  had  been  practised  upon  us  by  the  doctors  till  we  were  well  nigh 
dead.  But  the  specie  that  is  now  returning  to  the  country,  under  the  operation  of  the  Tariff, 
is  our  life-blood.  Nevertheless,  it  requires  a  heart,  arteries,  and  veins  for  distribution.  It  is 
not  enough  for  the  human  body  that  the  blood  be  chiefly  on  one  side,  while  the  heart  and  the 
other  side  are  nearly  destitute.  That  is  disease — paralysis.  A  universal  distribution  of  the 
vital  element  is  required  for  health.  The  great  arteries  must  be  filled,  and  the  heart,  by  its 
vigorous  functions,  must  regulate  the  pulsations  of  every  part  to  the  surface  and  to  the 
extremities. 

The  specie  that  is  now  returning,  as  a  basis  of  trade,  cannot  circulate  in  its  own  proper 
form  commensurate  wiih  ihe  demands  of  trade.  It  is  a  physical  impossibility.  It  might  do  so 
for  the  small  trade  of  barbarians,  but  the  immense  trade  of  this  immense  country  cannot  be 
earned  on  in  this  way.  Banks,  as  organs  of  circulation,  are  indispensable.  Hence — 

The  necessity  of  a  re-organization  of  our  currency  system,  or  a  return  to  the. 

old  one. 

The  specie  that  is  now  returning,  for  the  most  part,  lies  dead  in  the  vaults  of  the  Atlantic 
cities,  with  little  service  to  the  country  at  large.  Our  vast  interior,  that  needs  it  most,  scarcely 
feels  it.  It  is  because  our  currency  system  has  been  deranged  and  broken  down.  The 
fclood  is  on  one  side,  and  beats  but  faintly  at  the  heart.  It  is  paralysis.  The  banks,  where 
the  specie  is  being  heaped  up,  dare  not  extend  their  circulation,  not  even  equal  to  the 
demands  of  their  own  regions,  for  they  do  not  know  how  the  Government  will  treat  them. 
A  stage  of  returning  prosperity  is  arrived  at,  but  a  platform  for  the  next  stage,  for  a  consum 
mation,  is  wanting. 

Turn,  and  twist,  and  agonize  as  we  may,  it  will  be  found  impossible  for  this  great  work  to 
be  properly  and  well  done,  till  the  general  Government  shall  have  taken  the  business  in 
charge,  and  set  up  an  Agency  that  shall  be  able  to  lay  its  broad  hand  upon  the  nation,  and 
reach  every  part  of  it  with  its  fingers.  All  experience  has  proved,  that  the  State  banks, 
besides  being  unsafe,  while  operating  alone  in  this  field,  are  incompetent  to  the  task.  They 
have  never  done  this  duty  well ;  they  cannot  do  it. 

The  Constitutional  question. 

To  debate  the  right  of  the  general  Government  to  authorize  a  national  paper  medium, 
after  the  Supreme  Judiciary  has  repeatedly,  and  each  time  with  unanimity,  decided  the  ques 
tion,  and  after  all  the  Presidents  of  the  United  States,  except  one,  and  an  Acting  President, 
have  concurred,  would  seem  superfluous.  The  right  of  the  States  to  do  this,  might,  perhaps, 
be  questioned,  if  usage  had  not  sanctioned  it.  None  will  deny,  that  the  design  of  the  Consti 
tution,  in  giving  power  to  Congress  "  to  coin  money,"  and  withholding  that  power  from  the 
States,  was  to  secure  a  uniform  currency ;  nor  will  it  be  denied,  that  the  power  to  issue  a 
paper  medium,  exists  somewhere. 

But,  a  paper  medium  being  the  chief  currency  of  the  country  at  all  times,  it  is,  in 
fact,  more  influential  in  maintaining  or  disturbing  uniformity,  than  coins.  Besides,  a  con 
stitutional  power  given  for  a  specific  end,  implies  the  means  indispensable  to  that  end,  else  it 

28 


13 

is  no  power  at  all.  And  so  says  the  Constitution  itself: — "  Congress  shall  have  power  to 
make  all  laws,  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the  foregoing 
powers." 

Consequently,  as  a  paper  medium  always  has  been  and  is  the  chief  currency  of  the  coun 
try,  the  end  of  uniformity  would  be  totally  subverted,  if  this  power  be  denied  to  the  general 
Government.  Better  far,  to  have  given  the  power  of  coining  money  to  the  States,  and  that 
of  supplying  the  paper  medium  lo  the  national  authorities. 

If,  therefore,  it  is  the  right  and  duty  of  the  general  Government  "  to  coin  money,"  it  is 
Also  their  right  and  duty  to  furnish  a  paper  currency,  so  long  as  it  is  used  as  a  part  of  the  cir 
culating  medium  of  the  country. 

Independence  of  ike  international  currency. 

By  international  currency,  we  mean  gold  and  silver  weighed  in  the  scales,  which  is  the 
only  common  currency  of  the  whole  world ;  and  by  its  independence,  we  mean,  that  no  na 
tional  legislation,  or  despotic  power,  can  control  it,  but  it  controls  them.  This  truth  secures 
a  great,  important,  practical,  public  good  : — viz.  that  no  nation  or  state,  no  corporation* 
or  individuals,  can,  at  any  time  or  anywhere,  put  forth  a  currency  that  will  not  instantly  be 
proved  by  this.  This  state  of  things  results  from  the  fact,  that  the  whole  civilized  world  has 
become  a  domestic  scene,  one  trading  family,  all  parts  of  which  are  governed  by  this  one  law* 
It  is  impossible  that  insurrection  against  it,  though  a  conspiracy  of  nations  should  engage  in 
it,  should  start  up  anywhere  with  hope  of  success.  This  great  conventional  law  of  the 
commercial  world,  which  owes  its  origin  to  no  human  leaislation,  but  to  the  provisions  of 
nature,  would  put  them  all  down,  and  has  done  it  repeatedly  and  uniformly. 

Inferences. 

It  will  follow,  that  all  legislation  on  banking  and  the  currency  must  have  respect  to  this 
controlling  principle,  else  it  will  come  to  bad.  It  also  follows,  that  the  public  are  protected 
by  these  provisions  of  nature  against  the  quackery  of  legislation,  the  power  of  despots,  and 
the  arts  of  smaller  swindlers,  so  far  as  the  recognition  of  true  money  is  concerned. 

»#  practical  distinction. 

The  difference  between  international  currency,  gold  and  silver  weighed,  and  the  legalized 
currencies  of  states  and  nations,  is  of  practical  importance,  chiefly  political.  It  is  impossible 
to  apply  the  common  test  of  the  great  commercial  world,  to  wit,  the  scales,  to  the  common 
currency  of  a  nation,  in  its  common  uses.  It  is  obliged  to  be  built  up  on  a  credit  foundation; 
but  it  is  of  supreme  political  importance  to  the  state,  to  see,  that  there  is  no  cheat  in  it,  as  it 
cannot  escape  the  test  of  the  scales. 

The  political  vitality  of  an  established  national  currency  system. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  currency  system  of  a  country,  there  is  a  political  vitality  in 
it  that  cannot  be  tampered  or  trifled  with.  If  the  Government  invades  it,  it  stabs  itself, 
as  well  as  the  nation,  to  the  heart.  In  every  national  currency,  whether  gold  and  silver 
coins  alone,  or  mixed  with  paper,  there  is  necessarily  involved  a  credit  system.  To  make 
war  on  this  system,  is  striking,  with  murderous  weapons,  at  the  vitals  of  the  body  politic — 
for  nothing  can  be  more  vital  than  the  monetary  system  of  a  nation.  The  trade,  in  other 
words,  the  business  of  the  people,  in  all  its  branches,  the  public  finances,  and  the  machinery 
of  Government,  all  depend  on  this,  and  go  by  this,  or  else  cannot  go  at  all. 

Disasters  of  change  in  a  national  currency  system. 

In  a  great  commercial  community  like  ours — so  peculiarly  and  actively  commercial — a 
great  and  radical  change  in  the  currency  system  cannot  but  be  disastrous.  Individual  habits 
may  be  changed,  at  least  gradually  modified,  though  it  is  hard  work ;  but  to  change  the 
social  and  political  habits  of  a  nation,  suddenly  and  radically,  in  so  important  a  matter  as 
their  commercial  economy  or  currency  system,  is  like  the  march  of  a  revolution. 

J?  Government  Sank. 

It  is  only  within  a  few  years  that  much  has  been  said  on  this  subject,  and  it  is  not,  perhaps, 
generally  well  understood.  But  it  is  important  it  should  be  understood,  as  efforts  have  re 
cently  been  made  to  establish  such  an  institution — or  rather,  to  extend  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  by  enlarging  the  powers  of  Government;  for  such  is  its  effect,  and  that, 
too,  in  a  very  important  point  of  view. 

Mr.  Van  Buren's  Subtreasury  was  a  Government  banK  m  embryo,  and  Mr.  Tvler's  Ex 
chequer  was  its.  consummation. 

29 


14 

Banking  is  trading  in  money.  It  is  one  of  the  parts  of  society  that  is  necessary  to  the 
other  parts,  and  like  all  other  parts  should  be  regulated  by  law.  It  is  not  a  part  of  Govern 
ment,  and  can  never  lawfully  be  so.  It  is  a  trade,  not  a  governing  power.  To  introduce  it 
into  the  Government,  is  adding  to  the  Constitution  ;  for  Government  to  assume  it,  is  usurpa 
tion.  Such,  in  an  incipient  stage,  was  the  Subtreasury  ;  and  such,  in  the  maturest  form,  was 
the  Exchequer. 

Of  all  the  agencies  of  society,  banking  requires  the  most  rigid  authority  of  law,  and  the 
most  watchful  care  of  Government.  It  should  be  aware  that  a  Master  in  the  Government 
ever  stands  by  its  side,  and  is  ever  looking  into  its  concerns.  But  banking  in  the  hands  of 
Government,  as  a  part  of  its  functions,  has  no  master,  but  is  a  sovereign  power.  Why,  Sirs, 
it  is  frishlful  to  think  that  banking  should  have  had  even  a  chance  of  gaining  such  a  position 
in  this  free  country  !  But  such,  precisely,  is  the  thing  that  has  been  proposed  !  Nay,  nay  ! 
We  will  have  no  such  thing.  Banking  is  a  vocation  to  be  governed,  and  well  governed — not 
a  power  to  govern.  » 

What  follows. 

It  does  not  necessarily  follow,  that  we  are  to  have  an  old-fashioned  United  States  Bank,  as 
the  common  phrase  is— though  it  might  be  fair  to  ask  what  hurt  it  has  done  ?  It  always  did 
well  as  a  regulator  of  the  currency ;  it  always  secured  a  good  currency ;  it  facilitated  and 
equalized  exchanges,  and  was  in  universal  credit  at  home  and  abroad;  it  discharged  all  the 
fiscal  operations  of  Government  forty  years,  without  charge  ;  it  was  a  safe  deposit  of  public 
funds ;  and  in  all  its  functions  served  the  Government  and  people  well.  These  are  facts, 
But,  nevertheless,  it  is  not  the  mode  of  furnishing  a  national  currency,  that  is  of  consequence  ; 
it  is  the  principle  : — Separate  it  entirely  from  the  Government,  and  govern  it  well.  It  should 
be  a  creature,  not  a  part  of  Government.  Give  it  any  improved  form  whatever,  and  throw 
around  it  additional  guards.  It  is  always  in  the  power  of  laws,  under  care  of  Government, 
and  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  as  their  servant  and  subject.  Through  their  representatives, 
they  make  and  take  care  of  it,  and  it  is  obliged  to  do  as  they  bid. 

A  word  on  the  Subtreasury. 

It  is  a  heartless,  cold,  selfish  thing.  It  provides  for  the  Government  by  robbing  the  people 
And  who  are  the  Government  ?  What  claims  have  they  for  such  special  care  ?  The  inso 
lence  of  the  Subtreasury  is  astonishing,  as  if  the  Government  were  the  nobility,  and  the 
people  serfs;  as  if  the  former  were  to  be  provided  for,  whatever  becomes  of  the  latter.  WP 
really  cannot  see  the  use  of  Government,  if  it  does  not  take  care  of  us,  but  only  makes  us 
slaves,  to  take  care  of  them.  Better,  as  seems  to  us,  to  have  no  Government  at  all. 

The  authors  of  the  Subtreasury,  apparently  conscious  that,  by  breaking  down  the  currency, 
and  ruining  the  trade  of  the  country,  they  had  driven  the  people  out  of  house  and  home,  and 
deprived  them  of  meat  and  clothing,  seemed  only  anxious  to  provide  a  house  for  themselves, 
and  get  something  to  live  on  in  it.  But  the  people,  seeing  how  it  was,  turned  them  out,  and 
will  doubtless  take  care  that  they  do  not  get  in  again. 

But  the  Exchequer  plan  went  a  little  farther,  and  proposed  to  unite  the  supreme  commer 
cial  power  with  the  supreme  political  power,  thereby  putting  it  in  the  power  of  the  President, 
as  master  of  the  banking  trade,  and  master  of  the  authorities  by  which  all  other  trades  are 
conducted,  to  control  the  trade  of  the  country — to  control  everything. 

The  last  effort  for  a  false  system  of  currency. 

It  is  apparent,  that  the  principle  of  a  Government  bank  is  not  yet  dead,  and  that  another 
effort  is  likely  to  be  made  to  revive  it  in  a  new  form.  The  precise  modification  it  may 
assume,  will  depend  on  the  necessities  to  which  the  arts  of  designing  men  may  impel  them; 
but  the  principle  will  be  United  States  Treasury  credit  hooked  in,  perhaps,  or  mixed  up  with 
State  banks — another  pet  bank  system.  It  will  be  an  attempt  to  make  Government  credit  an 
swer  the  purpose  of  a  common  currency — a  thing  impossible,  if  a  uniform  and  stable  currency 
be  required.  Government  credit  can  never  be  anything  other  than  a  subject  of  trade,  to  be 
dealt  in  by  bankers  and  brokers.  Six  months  previous  to  the  writing  of  this  article,  it  was 
bslow  par;  now  it  is  above;  and  when  this  gets  into  the  hands  of  readers  there  is  no  telling 
where  it  -n  ill  be. 

We  ask  the  people  one  single  question,  which  will  bring  the  matter  home  to  them  :  Are 
you  accustomed  to  see  United  States  Treasury  notes  as  a  common  currency?  Such  a  thing 
Was  never  known,  and  cannot  be.  You  may  see  them  passing  over  the  counters  of  bankers 
and  brokers,  in  the  way  of  trade,  or  in  the  hands  of  persons  who  want  to  keep  money  by 
them;  but  the  moment  they  want  to  use  it,  they  sell  it  at  a  premium,  or  are  obliged  to  get  it 
discounted,  if  it  is  below  par. 

Until  we  can  get  a  national  currency,  a  part  of  it  as  low  as  ten  and  five  dollar  notes, 


15 

always  of  uniform  value  by  being  payable  in  specie,  it  will  never  become  common  to  accom 
modate  the  people. 

What  the  abundance  of  money,  and  its  low  interest,  teaches. 
It  is  agreed,  that  now,  in  the  middle  of  1843,  the  best  securities  can  get  money  at/ottr  per 
cent.)  and  it  goes  begging  at  that.  This  teaches,  first,  that  the  state  of  trade  is  very  bad ; 
for  in  a  prosperous  state  of  trade,  the  use  of  money  commands  a  high  price,  and  is  difficult 
to  be  got.  Secondly,  it  teaches  that  capital  is  abundant  for  the  revival  and  re-organization 
of  a  suitable  currency  system.  It  would  now  be  the  easiest  thing  imaginable  to  re-establish  an 
institution  for  a  national  paper  medium,  provided  that  capitalists  could  have  a  reasonable 
degree  of  confidence,  that  the  policy  of  a  Government,  inviting  such  investment,  would  con 
tinue  uniform.  A  national  bank,  established  for  twenty  years,  would  be  a  most  attractive  in 
vestment  of  capital  for  these  times. 

Who  are  the  democrats  on  the  subject  of  banking. 

The  democrats,  alias  republicans,  of  1816,  (for  the  parties  then  were  called  Republicans  and 
Federalists,  and  knew  no  other  names),  gave  us  a  bank,  by  80  votes  to  7 1  in  the  House,  and 
22  to  12  in  the  Senate.  Let  it  be  remembered,  that  it  was  the  Republican  or  Democratic 
party  that  gave  us  the  United  States  bank,  with  James  Madison,  a  democratic  President. 
But  a  new  political  sect  has  since  arisen,  professing  to  stand  and  walk  in  the  democratic 
shoes;  but,  in  fact,  they  are  Federalists  of  the  worst  stamp,  uniting  in  their  creed  the  most 
obnoxious  principles  of  that  obsolete  school,  such  as  admiration  of  the  veto  and  other  high 
Federal  and  monarchical  powers,  with  the  most  radical  and  revolutionary  doctrines.  Taken 
together,  it  is  the  seed  and  type  of  absolute  government,  and  had  its  origin  (a  fit  paternity) 
in  a  blind  devotion  to  the  will  of  one  man,  who  thus  became  the  father  of  Locofocoism. 

Who,  then,  are  the  democrats  ?  The  Whigs  stand  precisely  in  that  position,  not  only  on 
the  subject  of  the  currency,  as  those  principles  were  avowed  and  settled  in  1816,  and  re-as 
serted  in  1832,  though  overcome  by  the  veto  of  the  Locofoco  Primate ;  but  the  Whigs  are 
also  the  true  democrats  as  advocates  of  popular  rights,  and  as  reformers  of  Executive  usur 
pations  and  corruption. 

Jl  great  mistake. 

We  regret  that  the  excessive  amiability  of  the  Whigs  and  the  Whig  press  (shall  we  call  it 
folly  ?)  should  allow  the  Locofocos  the  benefit  of  the  name  of  democrats.  It  is  one  of  the 
greatest  mistakes  a  political  party  ever  made.  We  know  the  practice  is  being  dropped ; 
nor  can  it  be  dropped  too  fast  or  too  quick  for  the  good  of  the  country.  The  position 
which  the  word  Democracy  occupies  in  men's  minds,  as  its  etymology  indicates,  is,  for  the 
most  part,  the  opposite  of  Monarchy — a  people  government.  As  such,  it  will  rule  th« 
world,  and  ought  to  do  so. 

jj  false  accusation. 

The  Whigs  are  accused  of  being  the  bank-party.  If  this  means  that  they  want  a  souna. 
banking  system,  always  paying  specie  on  demand ;  that  they  want  few  banks,  and  the  least 
amount  of  bank  capital  that  will  answer  the  necessities  of  the  country,  then  the  charge  is 
true.  They  have  made  few  banks,  and  with  rare  exceptions,  good  ones  ;  whereas  their  op 
ponents  have  covered  the  country  with  banks  that  have  brought  ruin  upon  us  by  their 
explosions. 

Loss  to  the  country  by  losses  on  exchanges  in  a  bad  currency. 

We  heard  a  distinguished  Senator  of  the  United  States,  whose  accuracy  of  information  is 
reliable,  say,  that  the  domestic  trade  of  the  country,  requiring  settlement  by  exchanges,  may 
be  estimated  at  about  four  hundred  millions  a  year.  If  we  suppose  that  the  average  of  Josses 
by  exchanges  in  this  trade,  on  account  of  bad  currency,  after  the  destruction  of  the  national 
medium,  was  five  per  cent.,  it  amounts  to  twenty  millions  annually,  about  equal  to  the  fair 
cost  of  the  general  Government. 

But  this  is  not  all. 

It  is,  indeed,  one  of  the  smallest  items  of  loss  to  the  country  in  such  a  state  of  tilings.  Th« 
embarrassments  of  trade  produced  by  it,  cannot  be  estimated.  It  affects  every  man's  busi 
ness,  interest,  and  fortune,  and  produces  momentous  results  in  the  shifts  of  trade,  forcing  it 
into  unaccustomed  modes  and  channels,  as  regards  the  commercial  connections  of  one  sec 
tion  of  the  country  with  another,  all  to  the  detriment  of  public  and  individual  wealth. 

Jl  common  impressiofi. 

It  is,  doubtless,  a  very  just  impression,  so  commonly  entertainea  and  expressed,  that 
the  derangement  of  our  currency  system  has  been  the  chief  cause  of  our  national  misfortunes. 

31 


16 

The  currency  is  so  intimately  allied  to  trade  and  credit,  that  it  cannot  be  separated  from 
them.  If  we  have  succeeded  in  determining  where  lies  the  responsibility  of  breaking  down 
our  currency  system,  we  have  also  succeeded  in  determining  where  lies  the  responsibility  of 
breaking  down  the  trade  and  credit  of  the  country. 

The  greatness  of  this  ruin. 

In  the  midst  of  the  unhappiness  of  our  public  and  private  misfortunes,  thus  occasioned, 
few  have  thought  of  the  extent  of  the  evils.  A  just  array  of  them  by  the  power  of  figures 
would  doubtless  seem  incredible.  Nevertheless,  let  every  individual  calculate  for  himself 
what  he,  personally,  has  lost,  what  chances  have  been  sacrificed  by  him,  what  he  might 
have  done,  and  what  he  might  have  been,  if  the  prosperity  of  the  country  had  not  been 
arrested  by  these  fatal  measures;  let  him  consider  that  he  is  only  one  of  seventeen  millions  of 
people  that  have  suffered  in  like  manner,  and  he  will  then  be  prepared  to  appreciate  the  fol 
lowing  estimates  of  losses  to  the  country,  arising  out  of  the  mal-administration  of  our  public 
affairs  for  a  series  of  years. 

The  United  States  Almanac  states  the  losses  occasioned  by  the  monetary  disasters  of  the 
country,  growing  out  of  the  revulsion  of  1837-42,  thus : — 

Losses  on  bank  circulation  and  deposits,         -  $54,000,000 

"       on  bank  capital  failed  and  depreciated,        ...         248,000,000 

"       on  State  Stock  depreciated, 100,000,000 

«       on  Company  Stocks, 80,000,000 

«      on  Real  Estate, 300,000,000 


Total  of  these  items,         ....       $782,000,000 

But  these  are  only  a  few  of  the  many  items  of  our  losses.  We  have  carefully  examined  a 
statement  in  detail  of  the  commercial  statistics  of  the  country,  collected  and  arranged  by  an 
able  hand,  "  Concivis,"  in  a  series  of  letters  addressed  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in 
1840,  by  which  the  following  results  (apparently  fairly  deduced)  in  the  depreciation  of  pro 
perty  and  labor  in  the  United  States,  for  the  four  years  previous  to  that  date,  are  obtained  : — 

Losses  on  wool, $20,000,000 

«       on  cotton,       ?vWfc   ' 130,000,000 

"       on  grain, 150,000,000 

"  on  foreign  merchandize,  -  '..'"'/-  -  -  -  130,000,000 
«'  on  domestic  do.  -  '"•; ' '"''  - '  V  -'  -  -  400,COO,000 

"  on  capital  vested  in  manufactures,  -  -  -  'r "  50,000,000 
"  on  capital  vested  in  moneyed  stocks,  -  -  -  -  150,000,000 
"  on  capital  vested  in  slave  labor,  -  '•„*•''''/'  .  400,000,000 

«      on  capital  vested  in  lands, 2,500,000,000 

"  on  capital  vested  in  real  estate  in  cities,  ...  500,000,000 
«  on  the  price  of  labor, 1,500,000,000 


Total,  -        -        -        -        -        -   $5,930,000,000 

So  much  for  the  losses  for  the  four  years  previous  to  1840 — the  aggregate  being  greater 
than  the  national  debt  of  Great  Britain.  But  this  is  not  all.  These  losses  will  have  con 
tinued  another  four  years  before  we  shall  begin  to  get  out  from  under  them,  which  will 
double  the  amount;  and  then  it  will  be  many  years  more,  under  the  most  favorable  circum 
stances,  before  we  can  fully  recover  our  prosperity,  which  will  at  least  treble  the  amount — a 
reckoning  of  misfortune  to  a  nation  sufficiently  astounding. 

Jl  sound  from  the  West. 

As  an  item  of  news,  if  we  may  be  allowed  to  descend  to  this  function,  it  appears,  that 
now,  in  1843,  the  whole  of  the  Great  West  are  moving,  like  the  waters  of  a  mighty  ocean, 
for  the  revival  of  our  national  currency  system ;  and  already  the  deep-rolling  swell  of  tha 
sea,  in  its  progress  towards  the  rising  sun,  dashes  over  the  lofty  ridge  of  the  Alleghanies,  and 
begins  to  sprinkle  the  Eastern  plains  and  valleys.  Look  out  for  a  deluge,  to  re-baptize,  thf 
nation. 

07"  NOTICE  : — The  next  Tract  in  this  Series  will  be  on  the  TARIFF.  Orders  for  thes* 
Tracts  will  be  promptly  executed  (only  for  cash)  by  the  publishers,  Greeley  &  McElrath, 
of  the  Tribune,  New  York,  and  Godey  &  McMichael,  Philadelphia.  They  may  also  be  hnd 
of  booksellers  generally. 

32 


THE 

JUIIUS  TRACTS. 


PUBLISHED  EVERY  SECOND  MONTH.  [1843. 


*_    THE    TARIFF.    J° 

BY  JUNIUS. 

Author  of  "THE  CRISIS  OF  THE  COUNTRY,"  and  other  Tracts  of  IMC 

Price,  3  cents  single,  $2  50  cts.  per  100,  or  $20  per  1000. 

* 

TRACTS  ALREADY  PUBLISHED. 

No.     I.  THE  TEST,  OR  PARTIES  TRIED  BY  THEIR  ACTS. 
«     II.  THE  CURRENCY. 
«    III.  THE   TARIFF. 
«    IV.  LIFE  OF  HENRY  CLAY. 
«      V.  POLITICAL  ABOLITION. 

ID"  NOTICE  :  Committees,  Clubs,  and  all  persons  desirous  of  obtaining  these  Tract*, 
are  requested  to  send  their  orders,  with  remittances,  to  the  publishers,  Greeley  $  MtElrath, 
Tribum  Office,  New  York,  who  will  promptly  forward  them  to  any  part  of  the  Union,  as  may 
be  directed.  Remittances  by  mail,  post  paid  or  free,  at  the  risk  of  the  proprietor.  Price  for 
any  one  of  the  series,  $2  50  cts.  per  100  copies,  or  $20  per  1000. 

ostmMters  are  authorized  by  law  to  make  remittances  under  their  frank. 


NEW  YORK: 
PUBLISHED  BY  GREELEY  &  McELRATH, 

TRIE  UNE  BUILDING8,  ^60  NASSAU  STREET. 
1844. 

[Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1843,  by  CALVIN  COLTON,  in  the  Clerk's  office  of  the 
District  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  and  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York.] 

017*  EXTRACTS  in  Newspapers,  for  purpose  of  review,  are  allowed,  but  the  republication  of  this 

Tract  is  forbidden. 

[One  Sheet  Periodical,  Postage  under  100  mUes  1 J  cents  ;  over  100  miles  2J.] 

33 


THE  TARIFF. 

The  TARIFF  is  chiefly  a  question  of  facts  and  figures,  and  we  hope  to  present  it  so  that  it 
can  be  understood. 

The  leading  questions. 

The  chief  topics  in  this  debate  are  the  effect  of  buying  too  much,  and  the  effect  of  European 
capital  and  labor  on  American  capital  and  labor. 

Buying  too  much. 

If  we  had  space  to  explain  and  exemplify,  we  should  start  with  the  proposition,  that  a  pro- 
ducer  of  anything  whatever,  who  depends  on  the  sale  of  his  products,  will  fail,  if  he  buys  and 
continues  to  buy  more  than  he  sells,  and  that  he  can  only  prosper,  so  far  as  trade  is  concerned, 
by  selling  more  than  he  buys.  But  it  is  enough  for  our  purpose  to  say,  what  every  body 
Knows,  that  with  nations  as  well  as  with  individuals,  there  is  such  a  thing  as  buying  too  much. 
This  we  shall  endeavor  to  show,  has  been  the  great  fault  and  great  misfortune  of  this 
country,  in  its  foreign  trade. 

The  commerce  of  the  United  States,  internal  and  external. 

Most  persons  will  probably  be  surprised  to  find,  that  about  nineteen  twentieths  of  our  trade 
is  internal,  in  distinction  from  foreign  or  external.  The  last  Census  informs  us,  and  the  fact 
is  announced  by  Senate  Document,  No.  340,  2d  Session,  27th  Congress,  that  the  value  of  the 
annual  products  of  the  United  States  in  the  aggregate  is  $2,000,000,000,  [two  thousand 
millions  of  dollars,]  while  our  annual  exports  rarely  exceeded  one  hundred  millions.  There 
are  reasons  to  suppose  that  this  result  from  the  census  is  short  of  the  fact  by  about  one  fifth, 
and  that  the  annual  products  of  the  United  States  are  not  less  than  $2,500,000,000.  Our 
manufactories  alone  produce  about  four  hundred  millions  a  year  by  the  following  rule  : — 
Capital  invested  $300,000,000,  and  it  is  ascertained,  that  the  annual  products  of  manufac 
tories  are  at  leastj^me  third  greater  than  the  capital  invested.  It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that 
most  of  ihe  trade  of  the  country,  is  internal. 

Free  trade. 

The  meaning  of  this  phrase  in  most  men's  minds,  would  probably  be  expressed  thus — let 
every  man  be  free  to  trade  as  he  can.  And  this  is  precisely  the  law  of  the  land,  for  the  regu 
lation  of  internal  commerce.  At  least,  we  do  not  know  anything  to  the  contrary.  But  in 
external  commerce,  or  trade  between  nations,  those  who  engage  in  it  are  to  some  extent  pub 
lic  agents,  and  hold  in  their  hands  political  powers  of  vital  importance  to  the  nation  they  rep 
resent.  They  carry  the  national  flag  and  national  credentials.  Hence  the  propriety  and 
importance  of  the  following  clause  in  our  Constitution  :  "  Congress  shall  have  power  to  regu 
late  commerce  with  foreign  nations."  This,  probably,  will  be  deemed  sufficient  to  show,  that 
trade  between  nations  can  not  be  free,  as  the  trader  is  an  agent  of  the  public,  and  bears  a 
public  commission.  In  other  words,  he  is  as  much  bound  by  his  instructions  as  any  other 
public  agent,  and  it  is  equally  important  that  he  should  be  instructed. 

But,  if  it  be  suitable  and  important  to  prescribe  regulations  for  the  government  of  our  own 
citizens,  in  their  foreign  trade,  who  are  accountable  to  us,  much  more  is  it  important  to  have 
an  eye  on  foreigners  who  trade  with  us,  and  who  are  not  accountable  to  us,  except  not  to 
violate  our  laws  while  they  are  here.  They  may  have  reasons  and  strong  temptations  to  in 
jure  us,  which  would  not  so  naturally,  and  could  not  so  easily  actuate  our  own  citizens. 
They  may  even  be  in  conspiracy  with  foreign  powers  against  us,  and  invariably  are  so,  acting 
as  they  do  under  the  commercial  systems  of  their  respective  governments,  which  are  hostile  to 
us,  and  "which  they,  as  traders,  have  an  interest  in  supporting.  They  may  defraud  our  reve 
nue,  and  impair  or  break  down  the  rights  of  American  citizens  guarantied  by  law,  and  have 
done  so  to  a  vast  extent. 

The  wealth  of  our  public  estate. 

We  speak  of  the  nation.  This  wealth  is  partly  physical,  and  partly  moral,  social,  and 
political.  Without  the  moral,  social,  and  political,  the  physical  would  be  of  little  value  ;  but 
all  together  comprehend  the  elements  or  capabilities  of  the  Avealthiest  nation  on  the  globe. 

The  effect  of  our  external  or  foreign  trade  on  our  national  wealth. 
It  will  be  beneficial  or  injurious,  according  as  we  buy  just  enough  or  too  much  of  foreign 
products.  Our  physical  resources  and  moral  energies  are  so  great,  that  we  can  bear  a  great 
deal  of  loss  in  the  way  of  foreign  trade,  and  yet  thrive;  but  there  is  a  point  of  disadvantage 
arising  from  this  cause,  beyond  which  we  can  not  fail  to  break  down.  Let  us  review  our 
history  for  the  instruction  it  may  afford  in  regard  to  this  great  and  fundamental  principle. 

34 


The  period  from  the  peace  0/1783  to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  in  1789. 

From  the  deficiency  of  our  own  public  records,  we  are  forced  to  resort  to  the  books  of  the  Eng 
lish  Customhouse  for  the  information  we  want,  a  copy  of  which,  as  far  as  our  occasion  requires, 
may  be  found  in  Pitkin's  Statistical  View,  from  which  we  learn,  that  our  imports  from  Great 
Britain  for  the  first  year  after  the  peace  were  six  to  one  of  our  exports  to  that  empire,  and  that 
the  average  proportion  of  our  imports  to  our  exports,  from  1783  to  1790,  was  as  thret  of  the 
former  to  one  of  the  latter.  The  balance  against  us  for  the  first  year  was  upwards  of  twelve 
millions  of  dollars,  and  for  the  whole  period  nearly  fifty  millions.  Considering  the  infancy 
of  our  condition,  and  the  poverty  in  which  we  came  out  of  the  war,  this  was  a  prodigious  bal 
ance  to  be  remitted  in  specie  as  the  only  mode  of  settlement. 

The  effect. 

It  drained  the  country  of  the  little  specie  the  war  had  left  us,  and  entailed  upon  us  a  worth 
less  paper  currency.  Neither  the  Confederation,  nor  the  States,  could  pay  the  interest  on  their 
Cebts,  and  the  nation  was  bankrupt.  One  State  after  another,  in  its  separate  action,  tried  to 
establish  a  protective  system  by  duties  on  imports ;  but  for  want  of  harmony,  it  rather  made 
the  matter  worse. 

The  result  of  necessity. 

Virginia  at  last  proposed  a  convention  of  the  states,  to  debate  the  expediency  of  a  reorgan 
ization  of  the  general  government,  which  resulted  in  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution.  The 
history  of  the  times,  as  any  one  may  see,  proves  that  the  chief  motive  of  this  movement  was 
to  have  a  government  with  ample  powers  to  regulate  foreign  commerce,  and  establish  a  pro 
tective  system,  as  well  as  to  raise  revenue.  Hence  the  language  of  the  Constitution  :  "  Con 
gress  shall  have  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imports,  and  excises,  to  pay  the  debts, 
and  provide  for  the  common  defence  and  general  welfare  of  the  United  States — to  regulate 
commerce  with  foreign  nations,"  &c. 

The  first  general  act  of  the  first  Congress. 

"  Whereas  it  is  necessary  for  the  support  of  government,  for  the  discharge  of  the  debts  of 
the  United  States,  and  for  the  encouragement  and  protection  of  manufactures,  that  duties  be 
laid  on  goods,  wares,  and  merchandise  imported — Be  it  enacted,"  &c.  This  subject  was 
moved  at  the  earliest  opportunity  by  Mr.  Madison,  the  father  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  act 
was  signed  by  President  Washington,  the  Fourth,  of  July,  1789.  This  and  other  similar  acts 
of  legislation  rescued  and  saved  the  country.  But  it  was  a  terrible  ordeal,  and  put  in  peril 
the  existence  of  the  republic,  to  have  bought  at  such  a  time  so  much  more  than  we  sold. 

The  period  from  1790  to  1807. 

This  was  one  of  comparative  prosperity,  but  not  so  great  as  we  were  entitled  to.  Our 
neutral  position  during  the  protracted  war  in  Europe,  made  up  in  part  for  the  defects  of  our 
commercial  regulations,  by  opening  to  us  in  some  degree  the  ports  of  the  belligerent  powers, 
and  giving  us  a  portion  of  their  commerce  and  carrying  trade.  Nevertheless,  it  will  be  found 
(see  House  Doc.,  No.  3, 1st  Session,  26th  Congress),  that  in  each  of  these  years  the  balance  of 
trade  between  us  and  foreign  parts,  was  against  us,  and  in  some  years  it  was  very  great.  For 
the  whole  period  it  was  $229,998,061,  or  a  trifle  less  than  two  hundred  and  thirty  millions  of 
dollars.  (See  same  authority.)  Some  abatement  from  this  balance  ought  doubtless  to  be  made 
for  the  different  modes  of  estimating  the  respective  amounts  of  imports  and  exports  ;  but  after 
all  due  allowances  on  this  account,  the  balance  would  still  be  against  us  to  a  startling 
amount. 

We  can  not  feel,  that  the  profits  of  navigation  employed  in  our  export  trade,  or  of  the  trade 
itself,  ought  to  be  subtracted  from  this  balance,  as  the  talent  and  enterprise  engaged  in  it 
were  the  property  of  the  country,  and  their  legitimate  product  belongs  to  the  same  category 
with  the  wealth  of  all  other  productive  labor  of  the  nation.  It  was  a  relief,  certainly,  but  not 
properly  an  item  in  this  account.  It  is  a  part  of  the  footing  of  the  ledger-book  of  the  nation 
in  its  domestic  reckoning. 

How  we  got  along. 

If  it  be  asked,  How  could  we  prosper  in  such  a  trade  ?  The  answer  is,  that,  having  a  very 
large  and  productive  estate  to  cultivate  at  home,  worked  by  enterprising  and  frugal  laborers, 
we  prospered  in  spite  of  it.  This  is,  in  fact,  the  true  reason.  It  is  inevitable,  that  a  nation 
which  buys  more  than  it  sells,  will  be  injured,  so  long  as  3  is  greater  than  2,  and  4  greater 
than  3. 

The  period  between  1807  and  1815. 

^  With  non-importation,  non-intercourse,  embargo,  and  war  upon  us,  this  period  was  of  course 
disastrous,  if  foreign  trade,  under  any  circumstances,  can  be  beneficial,  as  doubtless  it  is, 
properly  regulated.  The  imports  fell  off  from  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  millions  in  1807,  to 

35 


fifty-seven  millions  in  1808,  and  the  exports  from  one  hundred  and  eight  millions  in  the  former 
year  to  twenty-two  millions  in  the  latter,  and  both  continued  to  dwindle,  till  the  imports  came 
down  to  about  thirteen  millions,  and  the  exports  to  about  seven  millions,  in  1814.  The  balance 
of  trade,  as  usual,  was  against  us,  the  aggregate  for  this  period  of  seven  years  being 
$91,220,330.  (See  same  document  as  above.) 

The  period  from  1815  to  1838  inclusive. 

From  the  same  authority  as  above,  we  find,  that,  in  the  la?t  three  quarters  of  the  fiscal 
year,  1814-'15,  to  wit,  the  first  three  quarters  after  the  peace,  the  imports  exceeded  the  ex 
ports  by  more  than  sixty  millions  of  dollars ;  that  in  the  year  1815-'16,  before  the  tariff  of 
1816  began  to  operate,  the  excess  of  imports  over  exports  was  about  sixty-one  millions;  that 
m  1836,  the  excess  was  again  sixty-one  millions ;  and  that  the  aggregate  excess  of  imports 
over  the  aggregate  of  exports,  from  1815  to  1838  inclusive,  was  $415,353,608  (more  than/owr 
hundred  and  fifteen  millions  of  dollars). 

Period  from  1833  to  1840,  inclusive. 

This,  it  will  be  seen,  is  a  partial  lap  over  on  the  previous  head.  The  balance  of  foreign 
trade  aeainst  us  for  thia  period,  being  eight  years,  amounted  to  the  enormous  sum  of 
$172,770,000.  (Upward  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-two  millions  of  dollars.)  From  1835  to 
1840,  the  balance  against  us  was  $132,670,000  (more  than  one  hundred  and  thirty-two 
millions  of  dollars),  of  which  the  silk  alone  which  we  bought  amounted  to  one  hundred  and 
six  millions.  What  a  draft  this  on  the  money  of  the  country  ! 

Another  item  in  this  reckoning. 

There  is  another  fact  of  very  material  consequence  to  be  considered  :  viz.,  that  a  large  frac 
tion  of  our  exports  has  been  of  foreign  origin.  From  the  same  authority,  above  cited,  we  find, 
that  the  aggregate  exports  from  1803  to  1838,  inclusive,  was  $2,775,406,407  (more  than 
two  thousand  seven  hundred  millions  of  dollars),  and  that,  of  this  amount,  $852,873,942, 
nearly  one  third,  was  of  foreign  origin.  It  will  be  seen,  that  all  the  profits  of  producing,  and 
the  profits  of  all  the  capital  employed  in  producing,  these  exports  of  foreign  origin,  were 
realized  by  foreigners,  and  that  we  had  nothing  but  the  profits  of  the  trade  and  navigation 
engaged  in  this  commerce.  Nay,  a  part  of  this  was  in  the  hands  of  foreigners.  This  great 
and  comprehensive  fact  enhances  the  balance  of  foreign  trade  against  us  immensely. 

The  problem  solved. 

It  has  been  asked,  why  should  this  country,  so  exuberant  and  inexhaustible  in  its  resources, 
and  tenanted  by  such  an  enterprising,  working  people,  be  so  often  involved  in  commercial 
distress,  bank  suspensions,  want  of  money,  bad  state  of  the  currency,  &c.,  &c.  1  The  answer 
is  found  in  the  facts  we  have  disclosed,  and  the  result  is  based  on  the  principle,  that  a  man 
who  is  constantly  buying  more  than  he  sells,  will  get  into  trouble.  It  is  precisely  the  same 
with  a  nation.  Such  a  man's  credit,  if  it  had  been  good,  may  sustain  him  for  a  while ;  but, 
under  such  a  system  of  bad  economy,  it  can  not  last  long.  It  is  the  same  with  a  nation.  By 
various  commercial  shifts  of  the  people,  and  by  temporary  financial  expedients  of  the 
Government,  a  nation  that  is  constantly  buying  more  than  it  sells,  can  patch  up  its  credit  for 
a  season.  A  nation,  under  a  system  of  bad  economy,  may  stand  it  longer  than  a  single  man  j 
but,  when  it  does  fall,  great  is  the  fall  thereof. 

Remark. 

In  the  light  of  the  facts  we  have  set  forth,  all  the  commercial  embarrassments  and  up  sett 
of  this  nation,  may  be  distinctly  traced  to  the  true  cause.  It  is  always  the  same,  because  in 
the  nature  of  tilings,  with  us,  such  as  we  are,  it  is  impossible  there  should  be  any  other.  Is  it 
possible  for  a  man  to  get  into  commercial  difficulty,  whose  work  or  trade  annually  brings  a 
balance  in  his  favor?  No  more  is  it  possible  for  a  nation.  It  is  equally  impossible  for  a 
man  or  a  nation  to  stand,  that  regularly  creates  an  annual  adverse  balance  of  trade. 

Review  of  our  commercial  and  financial  history. 

All  along  we  find  it  corresponding  precisely  with  the  doctrine  we  have  announced.  Was 
ft  not  so  from  the  peace  of  1783,  to  the  re-organization  of  the  Government  in  1789  ?  Was  it 
not  so  in  1815-M6  ?  From  1819  to  1823  ?  And  how  was  it  from  1837  to  1840  ?  With  the 
commercial  embarrassments  of  the  people,  came  also  the  financial  embarrassments  of  the 
Government ;  for  the  former  always  begets  the  latter. 

The  effect  of  buying  more  than  we  sell  on  our  currency. 

Will  not  a  man's  money,  who  is  always  buying  more  than  he  sells,  soon  be  gone,  unless  he 
has  a  great  deal  of  it  ?  It  is  precisely  so  with  a  nation  that  buys  more  than  it  sells — the 
money  must  depart.  If  the  currency  be  a  mixed  one,  the  specie  that  constitutes  its  basis  will 
be  gone,  and  the  banks  suspend.  Or,  if  it  be  a  hard  money  currency,  that,  too,  must  stiU  go. 

36 


Here  is  the  secret  of  all  our  currency  difficulties.  The  currency  of  a  nation  that  was 
good  to  begin  with,  can  not  fail,  nor  become  unsound,  except  by  buying  more  than  it  sells.  >.i 
is  impossible.  And  the  currency  of  an  industrious  and  producing  nation,  that  continues  to 
sjell  more  than  it  buys,  will  become  good  and  abundant,  even  though  it  was  bad  and  insuffi 
cient.  And  not  only  so,  but  it  will  continue  good  and  abundant  uninterruptedly ;  for  nothing 
can  change  it,  but  a  change  in  the  character  and  habits  of  the  nation.  The  case,  and  the 
truth  of  the  case,  stand  thus : — If,  as  a  nation,  we  do  not  run  in  debt,  by  our  foreign  trade, 
we  have  our  money  and  a  currency^  but  if  foreign  demands  draw  it  off,  we  can  not  have  a 
sufficient  currency,  that  is  good. 

What  would  be  a  great  blessing. 

It  can  not  be  denied,  that  it  would  be  a  great  blessing,  if  we  had  a  currency  which  nothing 
could  disturb,  and  credit  which  nothing  could  impair.  This  is  sure  to  come  if  we  would 
establish  a  commercial  system,  and  stick  to  it,  not  to  buy  more  than  we  sell.  It  is  as  practi 
cable,  as  it  is  simple. 

How  this  vice  of  buying  too  much  came  upon  us. 

It  was  by  inexperience,  temptation,  and  seduction — and  seduction  was  the  leading  influence. 
When  Great  Britain  failed  to  beat  us  in  the  field,  she  took  to  a  system  of  commercial  policy, 
by  which  she  did  beat  us.  It  was  said,  and  said  with  truth,  for  the  first  few  years,  that 
England  profited  more  by  the  Revolutionary  war  than  we  did.  We  went  into  that  war  to  gel 
rid  of  s  system  of  direct  taxation  and  oppression,  and  carne  out  of  it  to  be  subject  to  a  more 
grievous  system  of  indirect  taxation  and  oppression  ;  and  the  latter  system,  although  we 
have  partially  shaken  it  olij  we  have  not  got  rid  of  to  this  day. 

The  Seducer. 

England  set  up  to  be  the  work-shop  of  the  world,  and  the  weaver's  loom  for  every  nation's 
back.  Toward  us  she  was  first  a  tyrant,  and  commanded.  Witness  her  prohibition  of  all 
exports  from  the  American  colonies,  of  anything  like  the  productions  of  her  own  shop  at 
home.  But  when  she  could  no  longer  support  her  authority,  she  began  to  coax,  and  put  on 
the  airs  of  a  seducer.  "What  excellent  goods,  these;  fine  wares;  first  rate  merchandise  j 
buy  them."  And  we  fell  into  the  temptation,  and  had  to  pay  for  them. 

"  The  work-shop  of  the  world" 

The  power  of  machinery  in  Great  Britain,  as  employed  in  her  manufactures,  is  variously 
estimated  by  English  authorities,  from  a  one  hundred  million  to  a  one  hundred  and  eighty 
million  man  power.  Take  the  lowest,  one  hundred  million,  which  is  equal  to  one  tenth  of  the 
population  of  the  globe,  quite  sufficient,  probably,  to  do  all  the  manufacturing  which  the 
wants  of  the  world  are  likely  to  require.  A  population  of  twenty-four  millions  (the  popula 
tion  of  Great  Britain),  by  the  agency  of  five  hundred  thousand  (that  being  the  number  of  ope 
ratives  employed  to  work  this  machinery),  employs  such  a  productive  power  for  the  wants  of 
mankind  !  Well  might  Great  Britain  covet  the  market  of  th :  world  for  her  manufactures  ; 
but  the  question  is,  whether  it  is  best  for  us  and  the  world  to  submit  to  it,  when  we  can  do  il 
for  ourselves  with  greater  economy. 

The  policy  of  England. 

England  commenced  her  war  on  American  manufactures  in  169VJ,  and  continued  it  to  the  war  oi 
the  Revolution.  Lord  Chatham  said  in  Parliament,"  He  would  not  have  the  Americans  make  a 
hobnail.'1'  Another  noble  lord  added,  "  nor  a  razor  to  shave  their  beards."  Mr.  Brougham,  now 
Lord  Brougham,  said  in  the  house  of  Commons,  in  1816,  u  It  was  well  worth  while  by  this  glut 
[excessive  exports  to  America],  to  stifle  in  the  cradle  those  rising  manufactories  in  the  United  States, 
•which  the  war  had  forced  into  existence.11'  Mr.  Robertson,  another  member,  ridiculing  the  doctrine 
of  free  trade,  confessed,  that  it  "  was  nothing  more  nor  less  than  for  us  [the  English]  to  get  a 
monopoly  of  all  markets  for  cur  manufactures,  and  to  prevent  other  nations,  one  and  a//,  from  enga 
ging  in  them."  The  Edinburgh  Review,  referring  to  the  Compromise  Act,  said,  "  We  have  ric  doubt, 
that  it  has  given  the  death-blow  to  the  American  system." 

The  London  Spectator,  in  1S43,  says  : — "More  general  considerations  tend  to  show  that  the 
trade  between  the  two  countries  mosi  beneficial  to  both,  must  be  what  is  commonly  called^  a 
Colonial  trade  ;  the  new-settled  country  importing'  the  manufactures  of  the  old,  in  exchange  for  its 
own  raw  produce.  In  all  economical  relations  the  United  States  still  stand  to  England  in  the 
relation  of  Colony  to  mother-country." 

Again,  "  Unth  Kngland  and  the  United  States  are  suffering  because  the  [economical]  Colonial 
relation  has  been  broken  ;  because  the  surplus  capital  of  England  does  not  find  its  way  to  America 
along  \viih  the  stragglers  of  its  surplus  population;  and  because  the  raw  produce  of  America, 
through  the  influence  of  restrictive  duties,  and  for  want  of  that  capital,  can  not  find  its  way  to 
England'.*'  It  must  be  allowed,  that  this  has  a  modest  squinting  backward. 

Every  true  American  will  duly  appreciate  such  an  unblushing  proposal  to  revive  the  old  system 
of  Colonial  dependence.  Such  always  has  been  and  still  is  the  plan  of  British  commercial  policy. 
and  siuh  will  be  its  end,  if  unopposed  by  an  American  system.  It  is  their  policy  to  make  and  Ueej. 
us  dependent  on  them  ;  it  is  our  policy  to  be  independent  of  all  the  world. 

37 


6 

Mr.  Jefferson's  mews. 

Mr.  Jefferson  said  in  his  report  to  Congress,  as  Secretary  of  State,  in  1793,  "  Free  commerce  and 
navigation  are  not  to  be  given  in  exchange  for  restrictions  and  vexations.  It  behooves  us  to 
protect  our  citizens,  their  commerce  and  navigation,  by  counter  prohibitions,  duties,  and  regula 
tions ;"  and  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Benjami-n  Austin,  in  1816,  he  said,  "  To  be  independent  for  the  com- 
forts  of  life,  we  must  fabricate  them  ourselves.  We  must  now  place  the  manufacturer  by  the  side  of 
the  agriculturist.  Experience  has  taught  me,  that  manufactures  are  now  as  necessary  to  our 
independence  as  to  our  comfort,  and  if  they  who  quote  me  [referring  to  his  notes  on  Virginia 
written  in  1785],  as  of  a  different  opinion,  will  keep  pace  with  me  in  purchasing  nothing  foreign 
when  an  equivalent  of  domestic  fabric  can  be  obtained,  without  any  regard  to  difference  of  price,  f 
will  not  be  our  fault,  if  we  do  not  have  a  supply  equal  to  our  demand,  and  west  that  weapon  of  dis 
tress  from  the  h;md  that  has  so  often  violated  it."  Every  President  of  the  United  States  has 
recommended  and  sanctioned,  and  every  Congress  has  legislated  protection  of  American  interests 
again«t  foreign  systems  of  commercial  policy.  Yet,  as  the  facts  quoted  demonstrate  we  have 
never  succeeded. 

How  foreign  manufacturers  manage  to  defraud  and  injure  Americans. 

They  send  their  agents  here,  who,  by  their  intimate  relations  and  a  secret  understanding 
at  home,  are  able  to  supplant  American  merchants,  to  defraud  our  revenue  by  false  invoices, 
and  thus  to  crush  those  very  American  interests  which  were  designed  to  be  protected  by  the 
laws  they  violate.  See  Senate  Doc.,  No.,  83,  2d  Session,  27th  Congress,  for  proof  of  fraud  in 
the  agents  of  one.  English  house,  to  the  amount  of  some  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars.  Also 
a  voluntary  fine  of  eighty -six  thousand  dollars,  paid  by  seven  agents  of  British  houses,  to 
Mr.  Hoyt,  Collector  of  New  York,  to  compromise,  and  purchase  exemption  from  the  course  of 
justice — and  a  variety  of  other  evidence  of  the  same  kind — a  mere  index  to  the  vast  frauds 
that  have  been  practised  upon  us  with  impunity.  The  proportion  of  foreigners  engaged  in  the 
importing  business  of  New  York,  is  74  to  26  Americans,  and  in  the  French  and  German 
trade,  they  are  nearly  a  hundred  to  one.  While  enjoying  the  immunities  of  American  citizens, 
besides  disgorging  their  goods,  wares,  and  merchandise,  upon  the  country,  which  we  do  not 
want,  and  thereby  running  us  in  debt,  they  are  committing  the  crimes  of  felony  on  the  rev 
enue  and  of  robbery  on  the  people. 

No  wonder  then. 

In  view  of  the  facts  we  have  had  occasion  to  notice,  it  is  no  longer  a  wonder  that  Great 
Britain  obtained  such  signal  vengeance  upon  us  for  the  loss  of  her  jurisdiction  over  us ;  no 
wonder  that,  since  the  general  peace  of  the  world,  the  nations  of  Europe,  having  left  off 
fighting  each  other,  and  turned  to  fight  us  by  their  commercial  systems,  have  brought  them  to 
Lear  upon  us  with  such  tremendous  energy,  as  repeoteJly  to  have  made  us  reel  and  fall  under 
them,  we  having  no  adequate  defence. 

The  reason  why  we  have  been  able  to  stand  it  even  so  well. 

It  is  our  internal  commerce  and  reproductive  wealth.  A  man  of  large  estate,  if  it  be  well 
managed,  can  lose  a  great  deal,  and  yet  thrive,  though  the  increase  of  his  wealth  will  be 
checked  by  his  losses.  We  have  seen  that  our  foreign  trade  is  a  trifle  compared  with  our  do 
mestic.  We  produce  two  thousand  or  two  thousand  and  jive  hundred  millions  a  year,  and  not 
more  than  one  twentieth  of  it  goes  into  our  exports.  The  remainder  is  used  by  ourselves,  and 
most  of  that  remainder  is  a  subject  of  trade  among  ourselves,  no  small  share  of  which  is  em 
ployed  as  a  reprodnctiiie  power,  augmenting,  always  in  some  degree,  much  of  it  in  a  manifold 
degree,  our  substantial  wealth.  Witness  the  growth  and  improvements  of  the  country.  A 
man  that  improves  his  estate,  adds  to  his  wealth.  It  is  the  same  with  a  nation.  Hence  we 
have  been  able  to  bear  a  losing  business  in  our  foreign  trade,  though  it  has  many  times 
crippled  us,  anJ  several  times  broke  us  down  for  a  season,  by  breaking  down  our  currency  in 
the  withdrawment  of  our  specie  to  an  amount  greater  than  we  were  able  to  bear. 

A  question  put. 

In  the  whole  history  of  our  government,  from  the  establishment  of  our  independence,  we  find  only 
fix  years  when  as  a  nation  we  have  sold  as  much  as  we  have  bought.  Is  it  reasonable,  that  so 
trifling  a  part  of  the  trade  and  business  of  this  nation,  as  our  foreign  commerce,  which  is  rarely  more 
than  one  twentieth,  should  expose  us  to  such  hazards,  and  bring  us  into  such  difficulties  ? 

A  suggestion. 

It  may  be  surprising,  but  facts  and  figures  give  occasion  for  the  suggestion,  that,  apart 
from  the  destruction  of  life  and  public  morals,  it  misht  be  better  for  us  to  be  in  a  state  of  per 
petual  war  with  a  maritime  poAver  that  would  chiefly  drive  our  commerce  from  the  great  high 
way  of  nations,  than  to  continue  under  that  system  which  has,  for  the  most  part,  characterized 
our  commercial  intercourse  with  foreign  nations.  War  gives  immense  activity  to  business, 
and  great  profits  in  every  branch  of  industry  and  trade;  nor  is  it  easy  to  show,  that  the  ex 
pense  of  a  war  is  greater  than  the  commercial  advantage,  if  the  people  who  are  benefited  by 
it  would  consent  to  be  taxed  to  prevent  the  government  from  running  in  debt.  There  is  rea 
son  for  saying,  that,  after  both  the  wars  we  have  had  with  Great  Britain,  her  commercial 
system  did  us  more  injury  than  woull  have  resulted  from  the  continuance  of  war.  In  the 
first  instance,  no  remedy  was  found  till  the  reorganization  of  our  government  in  1789,  and 

38 


that  was  but  a  partial  and  slow  one,  but  was  greatly  strengthened  by  the  protracted  war  'a 
Europe.     In  the  second,  the  tariff  of  1816  came  in  to  help  us,  after  the  horse  was  stolen. 

What  is  likely  to  come  to  pass. 

Doubtless,  the  facts  developed  in  our  commercial  history  as  it  relates  to  foreign  powers,  such 
as  have  come  under  review  in  these  pages,  will  yet  claim  and  receive  the  grave  deliberation 
nf  Congress,  as  to  what  can  be  done  to  arrest  the  career  of  buying  of  foreign  nations  more 
than  we  sell  to  them.  It  is  impossible  to  prosper  under  such,  a  system,  and  this  whole  nation, 
ere  long,  will  rise  with  one  voice  to  demand  a  remedy. 

What  the  remedy  is. 

It  is  in  substance,  to  enact  such  regulations  f.ir  the  government  of  our  foreign  trade,  as  will 
counteract  and  prevent  this  everlasting  excess  of  imports  over  exports,  and  turn  the  tide  of 
foreign  commerce  in  our  favor.  In  other  words,  it  is  the  permanent  establishment  of  a  suit 
able  protective  tariff" system.  We  say  protective,  because  protection  is  the  thing  required — the 
sine  qua  non — protection  of  American  interests  against  the  hostile  machinations  of  foreign  com 
mercial  systems. 

The  tariff  a  patriotic  question. 

Most  unwisely  and  most  unfortunately  it  has,  to  a  great  extent,  been  maoe  a  sectional  ques 
tion  ;  but  it  is  purely  a  patriotic  one.  No  part  of  this  nation  can  prosper  without  a  protective 
tariff,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  nation,  as  a  whole,  can  not  prosper  without  it.  Has  any 
part  failed  to  suffer  disadvantage,  and  a  corresponding  equality  of  disadvantage,  from  the  re 
vulsion  of  1837-MO  ? 

The  cotton- groiving  interest. 

As  no  other  American  interest  has  been  more  indebted  to  a  tariff,  or  is  more  likely  to  be 
dependent  upon  it,  we  ha'/e  ^ever  been  able  to  see  any  good  reason  why  it  should  be  opposed 
to  it.  It  started  under  a  ttrifi  of  3  cents  a  pound  in  its  favor,  has  never  had  less,  and  one  cent 
a  pound  would  be  as  effectual  £  prohibition  as  three.  It  will,  perhaps,  say,  it  does  not  require 
a  tariff.  Any  how,  it  is  claiiaev,  and  does  in  fact  exclude  the  foreign  product. 

The  cotton-growing  interest  l,t  the  foreign  market,  as  compared  with  other  American 

interests. 

Our  average  annual  exports  of  domestic  origin  and  home  manufacture,  from  1836  to  1840, 
inclusive,  being  five  years,  were  $102,588,892,  of  which  the  exports  of  cotton  weie 
$64,238,225,  leaving  only  $33,350,367  as  the  annual  average  export  for  this  period  of  all 
other  American  products.  The  average  annual  portion  of  these  exports  to  Great  Britain 
and  her  dependencies,  was  $60,200,131,  of  which  portion  cotton  made  $45,560,647,  leav 
ing  only  $14,639,484  for  all  exports  other  than  cotton.  The  average  annual  exports  of 
all  our  agricultural  products,  other  than  cotton,  for  these  years,  including  animal  food 
and  the  products  of  animals,  to  all  parts;  of  the  world,  was  only  $11,766,615,  of  which 
$5,353,818  only  was  the  annual  export  to  Great  Britain  and  her  dependencies.  To  Eng 
land,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  our  annual  average  exports  of  agricultural  products  for  this 
period  of  five  years,  including  animal  food  and  animal  products,  were  only  $1,474,719.  The 
entire  average  of  all  our  exports  to  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  for  these  years,  was 
$53,295,933.  But  of  this  $45,515,137  was  cotton,  and  only  $7,780,796  of  all  exports  other 
than  cotton.  These  results  are  deduced  from  public  and  official  documents,  and  will  not  be 
denied. 

The  effect  of  this  foreign  demand  for  raw  American  cotton,  on  our  other  agricultural 

and  other  American  interests. 

If  the  above  quotations  were  not  sufficient  to  show  the  effect,  we  have  before  us  the  ob 
vious  fact,  as  a  part  of  British  policy,  that  Great  Britain  is  obliged  to  impose  prohibitory 
restrictions  on  those  American  products  which  she  does  not  want,  and  heavy  duties  on  those 
of  which  she  wants  but  little,  that  she  may  be  able  to  admit,  under  a  mere  nominal  duty,  this 
American  staple  of  raw  cotton  which  she  does  want.  And  the  worst  of  it  all  is,  that  a  large 
portion  of  this  same  cotton  comes  back  to  us,  under  an  advanced  price,  some  of  500,  some  of 
1,000,  some  of  1,500,  and  some  of  2,000  per  cent.,  to  support  British  manufacturers  and  the 
British  government,  and  pay  the  navigation,  mercantile,  and  other  charges,  when  we  might 
save  much  or  most  of  this  by  a  suitable  protection  of  our  own  manufactures. 

A'o    does  this  system  and  course  of  trade  create  a  letter  market  for  American  raw 

cotton. 

Certainly,  not  in  the  long  run,  nor  can  we  see  that  it  does  so  temporarily.  The  world  must 
have  just  so  much  of  cotton  fabrics,  and  of  just  such  a  quality,  wherever  they  come  from; 
and.  if  the  British  should  buy  less,  we  should  manufacture  more  to  supply  the  deficiency.  It 

39 


is  impossible  to  injure  the  market  of  American  raw  cotton,  so  *ong  as  its  quality  and  price 
give  it  a  preference ;  and  wheiei  er  this  advantage  fails,  nothing  can  support  the  detna  id  for 
it.  It  is  morally  certain,  that  Great  Britain  will  continue  to  buy  American  raw  cotton  to  just 
such  an  amount  as  may  be  necessary  to  support  "the  present  colossal,  mammoth-like,  and 
almost  unwieldy  grandeur,"  as  Blackwood  calls  it,  of  her  manufacturing  system;  and  not  less 
certain  that  she  will  refuse  to  buy,  whenever  she  can  do  without  it.  She  is  not  likely,  either 
to  be  coaxed  or  successfully  implored  by  us,  to  trade  for  our  advantage,  if  it  be  not  for  hers.. 

Another  consideration. 

The  fact,  that  since  the  tariff  of  1842,  we  have  been  able  to  export  cotton  goods  to  Greal 
Britain  herself — "  carry  coal  to  Newcastle,"  and  sell  it  there — to  the  surprise  arid  consternation 
of  our  excellent  friends  in  that  empire — is  sufficient  evidence,  that,  by  a  suitable  protection 
of  our  home  manufactures,  we  can  not  only  create  a  home  market  for  all  our  cotton  that  may 
not  be  wanted  in  England,  and  thus  be  independent,  but  also,  that  we  can  compete  with 
England  herself  for  the  market  of  the  world.  One.  third  of  the  cotton  yarn  spun  atPaterson, 
N.  J.,  is  exported  to  China  through  a  New  York  house.  The  American  cotton-grower  should 
have  his  eye  upon  these  things,  if  he  would  be  wise,  not  only  for  his  own  interest,  but  for 
considerations  of  patriotism. 

Yet  another  class  of  facts. 

We  can  not  any  longer  be  blind  to  the  aim  and  efforts  of  Great  Britain  to  supply  herself 
•with  raw  cotton  from  her  own  dominions  in  the  East,  or  to  the  annual  rapid  increase 
of  the  culture  of  cotton  in  western  Asia,  Egypt,  Africa,  South  America,  and  Texas,  ail 
favorable  climates,  with  an  inviting  soil. 

We  learn  from  authentic  sources,  that  the  import  of  India  cotton  into  Great  Britain,  for 
1839,  was  132,900  bales;  216,651  bales  for  1840;  and  273,637  for  1841.  For  the  month 
of  January,  1841,  it  was  17,200  bales;  for  the  corresponding  month  in  1842,  it  was  49,380 ; 
and  it  has  been  reported,  that  the  India  crop  for  exportation  for  1842,  was  likely  to  mount 
up  to  600.000  bales.  In  23  years  from  1816,  the  increased  consumption  of  India  cotton 
in  Great  Britain  was  as  ten  to  one,  while  the  increase  of  the  consumption  of  American  cotton, 
for  the  same  period  in  that  country,  was  only  as/ottr  to  one.  It  is  true,  the  American  cotton- 
grower  has  taken  encouragement  from  the  intimation,  that  the  quality  of  India  cotton  is 
against  it.  It  should,  however,  be  remembered,  that  the  same  channels  of  information  which 
announce  disappointment  for  this  reason  in  one  quarter,  also  announce  that  they  are  trying  in 
another  quarter,  and  that  the  production  of  indigo  in  India  had  to  encounter  the  same  diffi 
culty,  which  was  finally  overcome,  to  the  almost  entire  suppression  of  the  American  product. 
The  chances  are  many,  perhaps  a  hundred,  it  may  be  a  thousand  to  one,  that  the  British,  ere 
long,  will  succeed  in  supplying  themselves  with  raw  cotton  from  India.  Is  it  not,  then,  sound 
American  policy,  and  the  only  permanent  security  of  American  cotton-growers,  to  be  prepared 
for  such  an  event,  by  rearing  and  protecting  American  manufactures,  that  we  may  be  able 
in  such  an  exigency,  to  vie  with  England  for  the  market  of  the  world  in  the  supply  of  cotton 
fabrics  ?  Our  cotton  manufactures  date  from  1816;  in  1825  their  annual  consumption  of  raw 
cotton  was  100,000  bales;  and  in  J  842  the  consumption  was  300,000  bales,  threefold  greater 
than  the  ratio  of  increase  of  British  cotton  manufactures  for  the  same  period,  notwithstanding 
the  disadvantages  which  American  establishments  have  labored  under  for  want  of  adequate 
protection.  In  1835,  we  exported  of  American  cotton  manufactures  $2,858,000;  in  1840, 
$3,549,000  ;  and  these  exports  may  be  carried  to  an  indefinite  extent.  In  every  aspect  of  this 
great  question,  the  finger  of  sound  policy  seems  to  point  to  the  increase  and  protection  of 
American  manufactures,  as  well  for  the  present  as  for  the  future,  and  not  less  for  the  interest 
of  the  American  cotton-grower,  than  for  the  welfare  of  the  American  republic.  The  ap 
parently  impending  rush  of  the  several  quarters  of  the  world  we  have  mentioned,  into  the  cul 
ture  of  cotton,  b'ds  fair  soon  to  require  a  high  and  vigorous  protection  of  the  American  cotton- 
growing  interest  Can  it  fairly  ask  it  then,  if  it  refuses  now  to  join  in  the  establishment  of  an 
American  commercial  system,  for  the  defence  of  American  interests  that  are  common  to  us 
all  ?  As  we  have  seen,  it  can  not  be  injured  by  a  protective  policy  even  now;  for  if,  perad- 
venture,  the  demand  for  the  raw  material  should  be  less  abroad,  it  will  be  in  a  corresponding 
Degree  greater  at  home,  besides  the  immense  saving  and  benefit  to  the  country  in  doing  this 
work  ourselves. 

Northern  capital  and  Southern  labor. 

The  fact  ,hat  it  has  been  publicly  said,  by  public  men,  that  Northern  capital  invested  in 
manufactu  rs,  is  hostile  to  Southern  labor,  seerns  Y,o  require  a  notice.  First,  we  have  to  )e- 
mark,  tna\  according  to  the  interpretations  given  by  Southern  authorities  to  the  laws  and 
institutions  of  the  South,  that  which  is  here  called  Southern  labor,  is  capital.  Next,  Mr.  Ex. 
Secretary  Wood  bury,  in  his  report  of  1836,  on  American  cotton,  estimates  the  whole  amount 
ul  cajiitav—. nut  labor — employed  ir>  its  culture,  thus  : — Capital  in  lands  $312,000,000;  in  slave* 

40 


$408,000,000;  in  horses,  cattle,  &c.  $20,400,000;  floating  capital  $30,600,000;  total 
$771,000,000.  The  total  of  capital  vested  in  American  manufactures  (making  calculations 
fur  the  incr^ssc  since  the  taking  of  the  last  census,  when  it  was  $267,726,579)  is  now  esti 
mated  as  eruai'to  $300,000,000.  Consequently  the  capital  vested  in  the  production  of  Ameri 
can  cotton,  not  to  speak  of  sugar  and  rice,  is  nearly  three  to  one  of  the  capital  vested  in 
American  manufactures  of  the  entire  Union.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  from  the  facts  before 
stated,  in  regard  to  the  ascendency  of  American  cotton  in  the  foreign  market  over  all  other 
Ameiican  products,  that  Southern  capital  is  rather  hostile  to  Northern  labor,  than  Northern 
capital  t  Southern  labor,  if  either  be  true. 

Benefit  of  our  Cotton  Manufactories  to  the  country. 

Anrma  cost  of  raw  material,  say,  from  seven  to  eight  millions  of  dollars.  This  goes  to  the 
American  planter.  The  value  of  this  cotton,  when  manufactured,  is  ascertained  to  be  forty- 
six  millions ;  vow  we  probably  manufacture  to  the  amount  of  more  than  fifty  millions  annually. 
This  fifty  millions  goes  to  all  the  parties  engaged  in  the  production  and  manufacture  of  the 
cotton,  and  stays  in  the  country,  to  circulate  here,  instead  of  going  abroad  to  buy  foreign 
manufactures  of  the  same  kind.  The  same  remark  applies  to  other  domestic  manufactures 
of  every  description — we  save  the  cost  to  the  country,  and  have  the  use  of  the  money.  The 
capital  vested  in  American  Cotton  Factories,  fifty-one,  millions  of  dollars,  employs  many  times 
that  amount  of  other  American  capital,  of  great  variety,  as  will  be  seen  under  the  following 
head. 

American  manufactories  enhance  the  value  of  agricultural  and  other  American 
capital  to  a  great  amount  by  giving  it  profitable  employment. 

It  has  been  ascertained  and  well  certified,  that  the  Glenham  Woollen  Factory,  at  Fishkill, 
N.  Y.,  with  a  capital  of  $140,000,  gives  profitable  employment  to  $1,432,000  worth  of  other 
American  capital,  chiefly  agricultural,  in  items  as  follows : — 66,000  sheep,  $2  a  head, 
$132,000;  22,000  acres  of  pasture  land  to  feed  the  sheep,  in  Dutchess  county,  supposed 
to  be  worth  $50  an  acre,  $1,100,000;  farms  employed  to  the  extent  of  2,600  acres  worth 
$70  an  acre,  $182,000;  other  capital  to  furnish  teazles,  firewood,  coal,  provender,  &c.,  &c., 
$8,000.  Total  $1,432,000.  Consequently,  if  $140,000  of  manufacturing  capital  employs 
$1,432,000  of  other  capital,  then  the  $300,000,000  of  manufacturing  capital  of  the  United 
States,  at  the  same  rate,  would  employ  other  capital  of  the  country  to  the  amount  ot 
$3,068,571,428,  or  about  three  thousand  millions  of  dollars.  Not  to  assume  this  case  as  a  rule  to 
determine  the  exact  general  result,  it  is  near  enough  to  show,  that  American  manufactories 
employ  and  sustain  a  vast  amount  of  American  capital,  of  great  .variety.  The  wool  growing 
interesl  of  the  United  States  alone,  is  estimated  by  the  Hon.  Mr.  Slade,  of  Vt.,  at  two  hundred 
*nillions  of  dollars.  The  farmers  of  the  country — of  which  class  more  than  a  million  are 
interested  in  growing  wool — receive  annually  forty  millions  of  dollars  from  this  source ;  for 
subsistence  of  opei-atives  in  the  Woollen  and  Iron  Factories*  alone  the  farmers  receive  twenty- 
six  millions  of  dollars — in  all  sixty-six  millions.,  being  nearly  nine  times  as  much  as  all  the 
American  flour,  beef,  and  pork,  absorbed  by  the  entire  foreign  market  of  the  world. 

In  the  same  manner  every  kind  of  American  manufacture  employs  American  capital,  of 
kinds  different  from  every  other,  and  of  great  variety.  Inasmuch,  therefore,  as  the  capital 
employed  in  manufactures  is  only  as  about  one,  to  ten  of  the  capital  employed  by  it,  it  will  be 
seen,  that  American  manufactories  impart  a  most  essential  and  most  important  value  to  the 
entire  capital  of  the  country,  and  directly  cr  indirectly,  not  only  give  profitable  employment  to 
every  American  laborer,  but  enhance  the  price  of  his  labor.  No  laborer  could  be  found  in 
the  United  States,  who  is  not  in  these  ways  benefited,  and  that  not  in  a  trifling  degree. 

The  national  benefit. 

This  is  immense,  and  embraces  not  only  the  negative  good  of  preventing  all  this  work  and 
all  this  reward  of  work  from  going  abroad,  to  be  realized  by  other  nations,  which  would  make 
us  so  much  poorer,  but  the  positive  good  of  having  the  work  to  do  and  the  pay  for  it,  which 
makes  us  so  much  richer.  And  this  remark  applies  equally  to  every  new  manufacture,  craft, 
or  useful  art,  that  is  introduced  and  carried  on  among  us. 

A  deduction. 

It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  the  objection  sometimes  made  against  domestic  manufactures, 
viz.,  that  they  are  for  the  benefit  of  the  rich  rather  than  of  the  poor,  of  the  capitalist  rather 
.ban  of  the  laborer  and  the  mechanic,  is  without  foundation.  It  is  the  labor  of  the  country 
that  is  first  and  chiefly  benefited  by  the  investment  of  capital,  or  the  setting  up  of  business, 
that  employs  labor.  The  proprietor  can  never  get  his  dividend,  or  his  profits,  till  the  laborer 
is  paid  ;  and  the  profits  of  the  latter  are  always  greater  than  those  of  the  former,  in  propor 
tion  to  the  capital  employed.  Investments  in  a  large  manufacturing  establishment,  existing 
in  the  shape  of  btocks,  are  not  usually  made  so  much  for  speculation,  as  for  a  reasonable  and 

41 


10         « 

Steady  income,  an  income  that  can  never  be  had,  till  all  the  other  capital  and  all  th» 
employed  by  it  have  realized  their  reward ;  nor  is  it  possible  for  such  establishments  to  make 
large  dividends,  without  having  first  conferred  more  than  a  proportionate  benefit  on  the 
numerous  parties,  by  the  instrumentality  of  whose  labor  these  establishments  are  carried  on. 
It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  a  great  proportion  of  the  large  manufacturing  establishments  of 
this  country  have  changed  owners.  And  why  ?  Because  it  has  been  a  losing  business,  and 
the  original  proprietors  have  retired  from  disappointment,  not  a  few  of  whom  have  sunk 
large  fortunes.  But  the  laborers  &  the  country  have  had  all  that  has  been  thus  sacrificed, 
and  are  all  the  richer  by  as  much  as  these  proprietors  have  been  made  poorer. 

It  is  proved  in  "  Facts  for  a  Laboring  Man,"  published  in  1840,  that  a  family  of  seven 
persons,  whose  entire  wages  in  1816,  in  a  Cotton  Factory,  were  only  $180  a  year,  could  get  in 
J836,  in  consequence  of  the  increase  of  wages,  $658  a  year,  while  the  prices  of  their  products 
had  fallen  about  two  thirds. 

Who  are  manufacturers. 

The  maker  of  brickdust  and  the  house-carpenter,  the  mason  and  ship-builder",  the  tailor 
and  shoe-maker,  the  hatter  and  milliner,  the  blacksmith  and  watch-maker,  the  iron-founderer 
and  the  saddler,  the  author  and  his  publisher,  the  soap-boiler  and  apothecary,  the  wheelwright 
and  the  locomotive-builder,  the  cabinet-maker  and  rope-maker,  and  all  the  various  handy- 
craftsmen  of  civilization,  are  as  much  manufacturers  as  the  makers  of  pins  and  buttons,  of  tin 
ware  and  cutlery,  of  cotton-shirting  and  broadcloths.  The  chief  ground  of  difference  is,  that, 
while  the  capital  of  some  of  these  crafts-wen  and  crafts-women  consists  in  their  skill,  or  two 
hands  and  ten  fingers,  or  brains  and  sinews,  that  of  others  consists  in  their  money,  which 
employs  the  skill,  hands,  fingers,  brains,  and  sinews  of  their  neighbors.  If  either  of  these 
more  properly  merits  the  name  of  manufacturer,  it  is  he  who  does  the  work,  and  the  workers 
are  they  to  whom  these  crafts  are  most  essential  for  a  living,  and  as  the  foundation  of  wealth. 
To  oppose  manufactures,  is  therefore  to  oppose  every  man  who  depends  on  handy-craft  for 
a  livelihood — it  is  to  oppose  the  march  of  civilization. 

Effect  of  the  multiplication  of  our  producing  classes. 

First,  it  diminishes  each  class,  and  increases  its  chances  of  profit.  Next,  instead  of  paying 
a  foreign  producer,  and  thus  losing  the  money  to  the  country,  the  money  remains,  gener 
ating  domestic  wealth,  as  money  in  use  always  does.  Every  new  class  of  producers,  if  the 
products  are  in  demand,  increases  public  wealth  in  a  manifold  degree ;  whereas  the  importa 
tion  of  these  products  subtracts  from  public  wealth  in  an  equal  degree. 

The  more  ivants,  if  supplied  at  home,  the  more  wealth. 

This  is  true  because  the  above  is  so,  and  for  the  same  reasons.  Wants  make  work,  and 
work  makes  profit.  This  is  the  advantage  of  civilization  over  the  natural  state.  It  multiplies 
wants,  sharpens  invention,  promotes  industry,  and  thereby  creates  wealth.  The  multiplication 
of  wants  is  another  name  for  the  augmentation  of  the  interests  of  trade,  and  trade— -fair  trade 
— is  mutual  help  for  mutual  benefit.  Every  one  will  see,  that,  from  the  primitive  or  natural 
state  of  man,  before  trade  or  mutual  help  commenced,  the  progress  of  society  has  been  incal 
culable;  nor  is  it  possible  to  fix  a  limit  to  its  future  advancement  by  the  same  means. 

The  principle  of  protection. 

It  arises  from  the  compact  of  society.  Every  interest  of  lawful  trade  being  a  benefit  to 
•ociety,  is  entitled  to  protection,  and  it  must  be  adequate,  or  it  is  not  protection. 

It  has  been  said,  that  agriculture  is  our  natural  calling,  and  that  our  best  national 

policy  is  to  foster  that  chieJJy. 

But  what  is  agriculture  good  for,  beyond  the  natural  wants  of  the  producer,  without  a 
market  ?  If  that  were  our  only  pursuit,  we  should  have  no  market,  either  at  home  or  abroad. 
Not  at  home,  for  every  squaw  can  produce  enough  for  her  own  wigwam  ;  not  abroad,  for 
they  do  not  want  it.  It  is  the  multiplicity  of  industrial  pursuits,  that  creates  a  market  for  the 
products  of  each;  and  the  greater  the  number,  the  better  the  market. 

A  near  market  always  letter  than  a  remote  one,  and  a  home  market  letter  than  a 

foreign  one. 

Why  are  farms  near  new  York  worth  hem  fifty  to  a  hundred  dollars  an  acre,  while  those  in 
Illinois  are  not  worth  more  than  ten  dollar*  ?  Because  the  former  lie  at  the  door  of  a  market. 
A  home  market  is  better  than  a  foreign  one,  first,  because  it  is  nearer;  secondly,  because  it 
is  more  secure;  thirdly,  because  it  is  more  uniform;  and  lastly,  because  the  prices  are  better. 
It  is  the  merchant  only  that  profits  by  the  increase  of  distance  and  the  multiplication  of 
stages  between  the  producer  and  the  consumer,  and  the  consumer  pays  the  tax.  The  average 
price  of  flour  and  wheat  in  the  United  States,  from  1831  to  1840  (as  ascertained  by  the  prices 
current  of  those  years,  published  in  diflerent  parts  of  the  country),  was  $6  65  cts.  a  barrel, 

42 


11 

and  $1  30  cts.  a  bushel;  whereas,  the  average  price  of  flour  in  Europe  for  the  same  period, 
was  only  $4  93  cts.  a  barrel,  and  of  wheat  98  cents  a  bushel  (as  ascertained  by  comparison  of 
Customhouse  books,  and  other  authentic  documents,  in  different  parts  of  Europe).  The  Hon. 
Chas.  Hudson,  of'Mass.,  presented  proof  in  detail  to  the  Committee  of  the  House  of  the  27th 
Congress,  that  Massachusetts  alone  consumes  annually  of  the  agricultural  products  of  other 
states  of  the  Union,  to  the  amount  of  forty-two  millions  of  dollars,  it  being  more  than  half  of 
the  annual  average  of  our  exports  for  the  last  ten  years,  exclusive  of  domestic  manufactures. 
It  is  because  of  the  extensive  manufactures,  and  the  multiplicity  of  mechanics  and  artisans 
in  that  state,  creating  demand.  The  fact,  that  we  produce  annually  in  the  United  Stales  to 
the  aggregate  value  of  two  thousand  millions  of  dollars,  and  usually  export  less  than  ont 
twentieth,  often  not  more  than  one  thirtieth,  is  decisive  evidence  tliat  our  home  market  is  our 
chief  reliance. 

Home  manufactures  cheaper  than  foreign. 

Since  the  manufacture  of  cotton  goods  commenced  in  this  country  in  1816,  the  prices  hav* 
been  reduced  on  an  average  about  two  thirds.  Woollen  goods,  oil-cloths,  refined  sugar,  ctf 
nails,  spikes,  and  the  various  articles  of  iron  manufacture,  leather,  pins,  &c.,  &c.,  have  al\ 
fallen  materially  in  price,  the  moment  protection  has  been  sufficient  to  raise  domestic  compe 
tition.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  put  one's  finger  on  an  article  of  home  manufacture,  encour 
aged  by  protection,  which  has  not  been  cheapened ;  and  this  too  in  the  midst  of  increased 
wages  of  labor,  and  higher  prices  of  agricultural  products. 

What  this  proves. 

All  this  shows  that  we  have  been  paying  an  exorbitant  price  for  British  and  other  foreign 
manufactures,  since  they  can  still  afford  to  compete  with  us,  which  is  in  part  the  cause  of 
reduced  prices.  Before,  it  was  all  in  their  hands,  and  they  set  their  own  price,  which  was 
extortion  in  itself,  and  a  yet  greater  injury  to  this  nation  by  running  us  in  debt  to  foreign 
parts.  We  can  never  know  the  fair  value  of  an  article  of  manufacture,  and  we  are  sure  not 
to  get  it  at  a  fair  price,  while  we  are  dependent  on  foreigners  for  it.  But  when  we  make 
it  ourselves,  we  not  only  save  in  price,  but  we  have  the  profits  of  manufacture,  and  the  yet 
secondary  and  larger  advantage  of  the  profitable  employment  which  the  home  manufacture 
gives  to  other  capital.  The  positive  commercial  loss,  and  the  political  disadvantage  of  depen 
dence  on  foreigners  for  the  supply  of  our  wants,  are  incalculable. 

What  Captain  Marry  at  says. 

In  his  work  on  America,  he  states,  that  the  supply  of  British  goods  of  all  kinds,  is  more 
abundant  in  the  remotest  frontier  towns  of  the  United  States,  where  the  stumps  of  the  prim 
itive  forest  are  yet  standing  in  the  streets  and  cellars,  than  in  the  market-towns  of  England. 
This  we  know  to  be  true,  for  we  have  personally  observed  it  in  both  quarters. 

By  a  recent  report  of  a  committee  of  the  British  House  of  Commons,  it  appears,  that  Prussia 
consumes  annually  of  British  manufactures  to  the  amount  of  7  cents  for  each  individual  of 
her  population;  Russia  to  the  amount  of  16  cents  for  each  ind'v«dual;  Norway  17  cents; 
France  20  cents  ;  and  the  United  States  to  the  antount  of  402  cents  «.  r  each  individual  of  our 
population;  and  yet  there  is  scarcely  one  of  these  articles  which  we  could  not  produce,  and 
generally  at  a  lower  price. 

How  this  happens. 

For  want  of  proper  restrictive  regulations  of  our  own,  England  brings  her  goods,  offers 
credit,  and  we  run  in  debt.  England  wants  to  sell  them,  and  the  sight  of  them  captivates  our 
eyes. 

Facts. 

During  ten  years,  from  1820  to  1830,  of  a  tolerable  protective  policy,  we  paid  off  one  hun 
dred  millions  of  foreign  debt.  During  the  next  ten  years,  from  1830  to  1840,  of  comparative 
free  trade,  we  contracted  a  foreign  debt  of  TWO  HUNDRED  millions.  During  the  first  period 
our  imports  were  $798,500,000,  and  the  amount  retained  for  domestic  consumption,  was 
$568,900,000.  During  the  second  period  our  imports  were  $1,302,500,000,  and -the  amount 
retained  for  domestic  consumption  was  $1,103,100,000;  that  is,  our  imports  and  consumption 
in  the  second  period,  were  nearly  double  of  the  first.  Here  is  the  secret  of  the  foreign  debt 
contracted.  (Report  of  Committee  on  Commerce,  27th  Congress,  by  Hon.  J.  P.  Kennedy.) 

Reciprocity  in  trade  between  us  and  Europe — the  facts. 

The  Hon.  P,  Triplett,  of  Ky.,  made  a  communication  to  the  committee  on  manufactures,  in 
the  27th  Congress,  from  which  we  deduce  the  following  facts  : — that  our  products  consumed  in 
Europe,  pay  duties  on  entering  there,  equal  to  half  of  their  entire  value;  whereas,  European 
products  consumed  by  us,  pay  duties  here  equal  only  to  one  fifth  of  their  value. 

From  other  authentic  sources  we  learn  that,  in  1841,  our  imports  were  $127,945,000,  anc 

43 


12 

our  exports  $91,000,000.  The  duties  we  got  from  these  imports  amounted  to  $14,487,000, 
being  about  11^  percent.;  whereas,  the  duties  which  foreign  countries  obtained  from  our 
exports  of  that  year,  amounted  to  $113,500,000,  or  124  per  cent.  !  The  average  of  our  ex 
ports  of  tobacco  to  Europe  for  1839  and  1840,  was  $9,225,000  for  each  year;  and  the  average 
duties  imposed  for  each  year  by  European  governments,  was  $32,463,000  or  350  per  cent. ! 
The  duties  on  American  tobacco  in  Europe  have  been  as  hi?h  as  $35,000,000  a  year.  Out 
of  our  toil  and  sweat  they  support  their  extravagances,  and  by  the  prohibitory  effect  of 
their  excessive  tariffs,  they  curtail  our  market  abroad,  while  our  comparatively  free  ports  ad 
mit  their  products,  not  only  to  run  us  in  debt  to  them,  but  to  suppress  American  industry, 
and  deprive  American  labor  of  a  fair  reward. 

The  commercial  system  of  Russia. 

In  Blackwood's  Magazine  for  June,  1843,  is  a  good  British  scolding  at  Russia,  because  she 
is  lakin?  less  and  less  of  British  manufactures,  and  supplying  herself;  in  other  words,  because 
she  is  wise  enough  not  to  run  in  debt  to  Great  Britain.  It  appears  from  the  same  source, 
that  the  Russian  system  brings  annually  and  uniformly  a  handsome  balance  in  favor  of  the 
empire,  as  the  result  of  their  regulations  of  foreign  trade. 

The  Turkish  system. 

But  poor  Turkey  has  fallen  very  much  into  the  hands  of  British  policy,  and  Mr.  McCul- 
loch  informs  us,  that,  of  600  looms  employed  ia  Scutari  in  1812,  only  40  remained  in  1831; 
and  of  2,000  weaving  establishments  at  Tournovo  in  1812,  only  200  remained  in  1831.  A? 
a  consequence,  their  hard-money  currency  is  exported  to  England  in  large  amounts  fbr  the 
supplies  of  goods  they  receive  from  "  the  workshop  of  the  world,"  and  the  nation  i?  greatly 
impoverished. 

A  plain  and  practical  case. 

Suppose  a  bushel  of  American  wheat,  in  the  farmer's  hands,  is  equal  to  the  cost  of  a  yard 
of  British  cloth,  apart  from  the  exactions  of  the  British  government,  direct  and  indirect, 
and  that  these  exactions  make  this  yard  of  cloth  cost  two  bushels  of  wheat;  in  other  words,  the 
American  farmer,  in  the  purchase  of  this  yard  of  British  cloth,  pay?  one  bushel  of  wheat  as  a  tay 
to  life  British  crown.  This  is  precisely  tlie  mode  by  which  we  are  taxed  for  foreign  manufac 
lures.  But  suppose  the  British  manufacturer  comes  over  with  his  capital,  and  sets  up  business 
here;  the  American  farmer  then  gets  his  yard  of  cloth  for  its  fair  value,  one  bushel  of  wheat; 
tlie  manufacturer  is  equally  well  paid,  and  escaping  the  exactions  of  the  British  government 
in  a  thousand  forms,  his  own  fortunes  are  greatly  mended,  while  his  adopted  country  is  en 
riched  by  the  employment  of  his  capital  within  itself.  This  is  precisely  the  effect  of  the 
tariff  of  1842.  British  manufacturers  and  capitalists  are  coming  over,  buying  up,  and  putting 
in  operation  American  manufacturing  establishments,  which  had  been  shut  up,  and  erecting 
new  ones.  Agents  of  Yorkshire  (England)  manufacturers  have  already  set  agoing  several 
establishments  in  the  vicinity  of  Philadelphia. 

Art  illustration  of  the  relative  position  of  Europe  and  the  United  States,  in  regard 
to  their  respective  commercial  systems. 

Here  are  two  contiguous  estates,  one  well  and  the  other  badly  managed.  Whenever  the 
proprietor  of  the  latter  buys  of  the  former,  he  insists  on  kss,  and  when  he  sells,  he  claims 
more  than  a  fair  price,  by  which  means  the  good  husbandman  is  taxed  to  make  up  for  the  bad 
management  of  his  neighbor.  Thus  are  we  taxed  to  support  the  burdens  of  European  govern 
ments. 

Or,  suppose  one  of  these  United  States  should  impose  heavy  duties  on  the  products  of  a  con 
tiguous  state — would  not  justice  require  corresponding  regulations  in  the  latter  1 

A  farther  view  of  this  subject. 

By  submitting  to  foreign  tariffs  without  adopting  a  countervailing  one,  we  are  not  onh 
taxed  to  support  the  vices  of  foreign  governments,  but  we  put  ourselves  still  farther  in  their 
power  by  enabling  them  to  impoverish  and  oppress  us  directly.  Importers  are  one  class  oi" 
merchants,  and  exporters  another,  and  the  interest  of  each  one  of  each  class  is  to  push  hb 
business,  and  make  all  the  money  he  can,  without  any  regard  to  its  effect  on  the  public.  Th-j 
consequence  is,  when  we  have  no  tariff'  to  countervail  foreign  tariffs,  that  our  exports  find 
hard  work  to  get  into  foreign  markets,  while  our  imports  crowd  in  upon  us  in  excess,  and  run 
us  in  debt. 

A  hard  case. 

A  fanner  in  Illinois  wrote  a  letter  to  his  friend  in  the  east,  in  1842,  complaining  that  he 
could  <re*  on!T,  31  cts.  a  bushel  for  his  wheat,  25  cts.  for  beans,  10  cts.  for  corn,  l£  cts.  a 
pound  for  beef  and  pork,  2£  cts.  a  pound  for  tobacco,  &c.,  stating  that  he  had  to  pay^/ia, 
dollars,  or  which  is  the  same  thing,  16  bushels  of  wheat,  or  20  bushels  of  beans,  or  26  bushek 

4,4 


13 

Ol  corn,  or  300  Ibs.  of  pork  or  beef,  or  200  Ibs.  of  tobacco,  per  yard  of  British  broadcloth  to 
make  him  a  coat!  The  cost  of  this  yard  of  cloth  at  the  manufactories  in  England,  was  prob 
ably  about  three  dollars,  or  two  bushels  of  wheat,  as  sold  in  tlic  market  there.  That  is,  the 
producer  in  England  received  for  the  cloth  one  eigklh  of  what  was  charged  to  the  farmer  in 
Illinois.  Who  got  the  difference  ?  If  the  manufacturer  had  been  in  Illinois,  or  anywhere  in 
this  country,  the  farmer  might  have  got  his  yard  of  cloth  for  two  bushels  of  wheat,  instead  of 
sixteen,  and  the  manufacturer  would  have  made  a  market  for  the  farmer's  beans,  corn,  pork, 
beef,  &c.,  at  a  good  price. 

Effects  of  the  Tariff  of  1842. 

Every  body,  the  whole  nation,  feels  its  reviving,  renovating  influence.  It  has  put  a  stop  o 
excessive  importations,  revived  domestic  trade,  turned  the  balance  of  foreign  trade  in  o.ir 
favor,  is  fast  restoring  the  prices  of  American  products  and  labor,  and  in  the  first  six  months 
of  1843  brought  back  to  this  country  nearly  thirty  millions  of  dollars  in  specie,  thereby  furnish 
ing  the  basis  of  a  sound  circulating  medium,  which  only  requires  a  proper  organization  of  our 
currency  system,  that  we  may  reap  the  full  benefit  of  it.  (See  our  Tract  on  the  Currency.) 
The  benefit  of  the  tariff  to  the  agricultural  interest. 

This  is  emphatically  the  great  interest  of  the  country,  and  therefore  its  claims  are  strongest 
for  the  benefit  of  legislation. 

Mr.  Everett,  our  minister  to  England,  stated,  in  a  speech  at  an  agricultural  meeting,  at 
Derby,  in  July,  1843,  Earl  Spencer  in  the  chair,  that,  although  the  commerce  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  was  twice  as  great  as  between  England  and  any  other  country, 
yet  the  whole  of  the  products,  passing  to  and  fro,  was  not  worth  so  much  as  the  oats  and 
beans  raised  in  Great  Britain,  as  proved  by  their  agricultural  statistics,  and  that  the  entire 
value  of  the  products  employing  British  navigation  all  the  world  over,  was  not  equal  to  the 
grass  grown  in  Great  Britain.  Srich  is  the  importance  of  agriculture  to  every  nation. 

Over  this  vast  American  interest  the  Tariff  of  184*2  has  thrown  its  shield,  first  in  direct 
protection  given  to  its  products.  For  cotton,  wool,  hemp,  beef  and  pork,  hams  and  bacon, 
cheese,  butter,  lard,  potatoes,  flour  and  wheat,  eleven  articles,  we  find  an  average  protection 
of  43  per  cent.,  which  is  higher  than  the  average  protection  given  to  manufactures.  But, 
secondly,  protection  of  manufactures  is  a  protection  of  agriculture,  inasmuch  as  our  manufac 
tures  give  employment  to  such  a  vast  amount  of  agricultural  capital  and  open  such  a  market 
for  agricultural  products,  as  has  been  shown  in  another  place.  The  importance  of  protection 
to  agriculture  will  further  appear  from  the  fact,  that  the  annual  average  of  import?  of  the 
above-named  agricultural  products,  for  the  five  years  preceding  1842,  were  $2,341,600,  anj 
that  the  potatoes  imported  into  Boston  in  one  year  amounted  to  $41,000.  It  will  be  seen  by 
a  statement,  page  7,  that  our  imports  of  agricultural  products  for  the  above-named  five  years, 
were  greater  than  our  agricultural  exports,  other  than  cotton,  to  Great  Britain. 
Benefit  of  the  Tariff  to  labor. 

It  has  been  estimated  by  political  economists,  that  the  industry  of  a  country  is  equal  to 
one  seventh  or  one  eighth  of  its  entire  wealth.  It  might  be  said,  that  all  the  essential  wealth  of 
a  nation  consists  in  its  capacity  for  labor,  as  no  nation  could  subsist  without  it.  American 
labor,  by  the  revulsion  of  1837-'40,  was  seen  to  be  sinking  rapidly  into  the  griping  fist  of- 
European  despotism,  by  the  approximation  of  its  prices  to  the  European  standard,  till  the 
tariff  of  1842  rescued  it,  and  is  fast  establishing  it  on  the  true  American  basis,  with  the 
prospect  of  a  fair  reward. 

Effect  of  the  Tariff  in  England. 

From  English  papers  of  July,  1843,  we  learn,  by  a  return  made  to  Parliament,  on  motion 
of  Mr.  Thornly,  that  the  exports  of  British  goods  to  the  United  States  for  the  previous  year, 
"Were  less  in  value  by  the  sum  of  twelve  hundred  thousand  jxunds  (nearly  six  millions  of  dollam\ 
than  in  any  other  previous  year  since  1833  (when  the  Compromise  Act  was  passed  by  our 
Congress)  ;  and  that  the  English  feared  they  would  have  to  remit  specie  for  American  cottort, 
instead  of  paying  for  it  in  goods,  with  a  balance  in  their  favor,  as  in  former  years.  Th« 
same  document  also  shows  that  the  imports  into  Great  Britain  from  the  United  States  have 
not  diminished  but  increased.  This  proves,  that  the  Tariff  of  1842  is  putting  things  to  rights 
pretty  fast. 

Our  imports  for  1840  were  $107,141,519,  of  which  only  $49,915,315  paid  duties.  In  1841 
they  were  $127,946,177,  of  which  only  $61,926,446  paid  duties.  In  1842  the  impons  were 
$99,357,329,  of  which  $69,400,633  paid  duties,  more  than  two  thirds  of  the  whole.  Exports 
for  1842  $104,117,969.  The  exports  of  1840  were  also  somewhat  largely,  more  than  tuwfp* 
four  millions,  in  excess  (very  unusual)  of  imports.  It  went  to  settle  balances.  This  was 
the  sixth  year  of  an  excess  of  exports  since  the  establishment  of  our  independence,  and  the 
other  five  were  very  trifling.  But  since  the  Tariff  of  1842,  our  foreign  trade  is  getting  to  be 
healthful,  and  bids  fair  to  be  safe.  The  revulsion  of  1837-J40,  by  inducing  a  want  of"  credit 
abroad  ana  Commercial  distress  at  home,  has  operated  as  a  tariff  in  our  favor, 

4,5  :".-' 


14 

Commercial  treaties. 

But  for  the  respectable  source  from  which  this  project  has  recently  been  revived,  ^e 
should  have  thought  it  unworthy  of  notice.  The  first  and  most  serious  objection  to  it,  is, 
that  it  virtually  reconstitutes  our  machinery  of  legislation,  in  a  very  important  particular,  und 
transfers  a  function  to  the  Federal  Executive,  which  the  Constitution  has  jealously  confined 
to  the  immediate  representatives  of  the  people  in  the  lower  house  of  Congress — to  wit,  the 
01  initiation  of  the  revenue  laws — and  farther  nominates  foreign  powers  as  parties,  with  rights, 
to  bring  such  legislation  to  maturity !  Will  the  people  of  this  country  consent  thus  to  chain 
themselves,  and  such  momentous  interests,  first  to  the  car  of  our  Federal  Executive,  and  next 
to  the  cars  of  foreign  despots  ?  A  Treaty  can  not  be  reviewed,  and  amended,  or  repealed, 
like  a  law  of  Congress  ;  but  is  binding  and  unalterable,  whatever  may  be  the  result  of  ex 
perience — of  which  we  already  have  a  little,  giving  good  advice,  in  the  following  particulars  : — • 
On  the  authority  of  the  late  Secretary  of  State,  Mi-."  Webster,  (See  House  Document,  No.  163, 
2d  Session,  27th  Congress,)  it  appears,  that  the  result  of  our  treaty  of  1828,  with  the  Han- 
seatic  Towns,  is,  that  before  that  treaty  five  sevenths  of  the  vessels  entering  those  ports  from 
the  United  States,  were  American,  and  that  in  1&4Q  four  fifths  were  Bremen,  and  only  one.  fifth 
American.  Like  to  this  has  been  the  result  of  our  arrangement  of  1830  with  Great  Britain, 
in  regard  to  her  American  possessions,  which  appears  from  the  fact,  that  since  that  time,  the 
British  tonnage,  entering  our  ports,  has  increased  500  per  cent,,  while  our  own  tonnage, 
entering  our  ports,  has  increased  only  50  per  cent.  ;  and  from  the  further  fact,  that  British 
vessels  have  monopolized  almost  the  whole  trade  between  the  State  of  Maine  and  British 
American  possessions.  We  have  a  similar  arrangement  with  Sweden,  in  consequence  of 
which,  she  has  already  entered  upon  our  China  trade,  in  the  case  of  the  Swedish  ship 
Albion,  and  is  likely  to  wrest  it  from  our  hands.  Each  of  these  arrangements  is  based  on 
the  Free  Track  principle,  allowing  equal  terms  of  trade  to  the  vessels  of  the  contracting  parties. 
Such  is  the  resuk  of  our  commercial  treaties  thus  far.  They  bind  us  to  perpetual,  irrevo 
cable  sacrifice.  These  cases  may  serve  to  show  what  would  be  the  fate  of  our  navigation 
interest,  if  the  protection  it  now  enjoys  were  withdrawn.  It  could  not  stand  a  competition 
with  the  cheapness  of  foreign  capital  and  labor  employed  in  navigation  a  single  day,  and 
foreign  flags  would  monopolize  even  our  coasting  trade. 

A  new  commercial  treaty  with  Great  Britain  ?  Is  she  a  fool,  or  we,  to  talk  of  that  ? 
Already  the  average  of  her  tariff',  as  it  bears  on  us,  is  110  per  cent,  above  ours  as  it  bears  on 
her,  and  would  require  an  average  Abatement  on  her  part  of  60  per  cent.,  and  an  average 
addition  on  ours  of  50  per  cent.,  to  make  a  fair  treaty.  Will  Great  Britain  consent  to  this  / 
The  absurdity  of  such  a  project  is  too  obvious  to  be  mentioned.  Great  Britain  is  not  wont  to 
be  so  disinterested  and  gracious. 

The  impracticability  of  such  a  scheme  in  relation  to  European  powers  generally. 
Their  debts  and  other  burdens  are  too  great,  and  the  wits  of  their  statesmen  are  continually 
tortured  for  the  invention  of  tariffs  adequate  to  their  purposes.  They  are  constantly  straining 
them  to  a  higher  pitch,  and  the  recent  apparent  and  trifling  abatement  in  the  British  tariff  is 
in  fact  a  protective  measure,  offered  as  a  lure  to  the  German  League  and  to  nations  of  the 
Continent  to  induce  them  to  halt,  that  England  may  retain  her  trade  with  them.  Holland 
ewes  a  debt  averaging  $2(j6  67  for  each  one  of  her  population ;  the  debt  of  England  averages 
$222  24  for  each  individual ;  the  debt  of  France  is  $54  54  for  each  person  ;  and  so  on,  till 
having  counted  twenty-Jive  States,  the  average  of  debt  is  still  $10  00  for  each  person.  (See 
Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine  for  May,  1843.)  Is  it  likely,  that,  with  the  additional  burden 
of  their  expensive  governments,  they  will  relax  their  tariffs  to  trade  with  us  for  our  advantage  ? 
In  charity  we  are  bound  not  to  imagine  that  this  proposal  is  offered  as  a  wedge  to  split  tha 
Constitution. 

The  effect  of  European  capital  and  labor  on  American  capital  and  labor. 

The  value  of  capital  (money  we  mean)  is  determined  by  the  interest  it  can  obtain  in  the 
market;  and  by  this  rule  the  average  value  of  capital  in  Europe  is  at  least  one  third  less 
than  the  average  value  of  American  capital,  as  settled  by  experience.  The  average  price  of 
European  labor,  as  determined  by  the  best  authorities,  is  at  least  two  thirds,  and  might 
perhaps  be  put  down  at  three  fourths  less,  than  the  average  price  of  American  labor.  Say, 
two  thirds.  In  other  words,  the  value  of  American  capital  is  as  3  to  2,  and  of  American 
labor  as  3  to  1  of  European  capital  and  labor.  This  may  be  assumed  as  settled. 
How  this  difference  arises. 

It  is  the  difference  in  this  particular,  between  a  free  country  and  countries  not  free.  It  is 
not  an  accident — a  transient  result — -but  the  permanent  effect  of  a  permanent  and  immutable 
Cause.  In  our  case,  the  value  of  capital  and  the  price  of  labor  are  not  forced  and  fictitious, 
lut  they  are  the  prerogative  of  freedom.  In  the  case  of  Europe,  the  laborers  are  not  a  party  in 
arranging  the  price  of  their  task.  They  have  no  choice.  It  is  forced.  Consequently,  the 
capital  that  is  Ihuy  wrung  from  involuntary  service,  at  such  a  price,  can  be  afforded  at  leas 

46 


15 

interest ;  and  considering  how  it  is  acquired,  the  price  of  European  capital  is  in  fact  higher  than 
American  capital,  as  compared  with  the  price  of  labor  there. 

It  will 'be  seen,  therefore,  other  things  being  equal,  that  the  advantage  which  European  capital 
and  labor,  as  producing  powers,  have  over  American  capital  and  labor,  acting  in  the  same  capacity, 
in  open  and  free  trade,  is  equal  to  the  difference  in  their  relative  values,  which  may  be  assumed  as 
two  to  one,  or  100  per  cent.,  if  labor  be  regarded  an  equal  power  with  the  capital  that  employs  it. 
But  other  things  are  not  equal,  and  the  difference  is  in  favor  of  Europeans.  For  example,  laborers 
in  Europe  work  from  12  to  18  hours  a  day,  averaging  say  15  hours,  and  American  laborers  never 
over  10  hours,  making  a  difference  in  this  particular  of  one  third.  There  are  other  points  of  differ 
ence  all  on  the  same  side  ;  but  this  is  enough  to  show  that  we  have  not  rated  the  sum  of  difference 
too  high,  in  allowing  European  capital  and  labor  to  be  100  per  cent,  more  powerful,  as  producers, 
in  opposition  to  American  capital  and  labor.  The  point  is  this  : — That  American  capital  and  labor, 
at  a  cost  of  100  per  cent.,  can  not  compete  in  the  s^me  market  and  on  the  same  terms  with  European 
capital,  at  a  cost  of  67  per  cent.,  and  European  labor,  at  a  cost  of  33  per  cent. 

The  question. 

The  question  then — the  great,  practical,  momentous  question — is,  Shall  European  capital  and 
labor,  in  a  field  of  open  and  free  trade,  be  permitted  to  bring  American  capital  and  labor,  that  is, 
American  society,  down  to  the  same  level  ?  Or  shall  American  society,  by  the  American  gov 
ernment,  protect  American  capital  and  labor,  and  maintain  the  position  to  which  the  cost  of 
American  freedom  has  elevated  them  ? 

The  great  battle. 

The  great  battle  of  the  world  is  between  freedom  and  despotism  ;  and  we  take  upon  us  to  say. 
that,  more  than  in  anything  or  all  things  else,  the  form  under  which  that  contest  is  now  carried 
on,  is  between  European  capital  and  labor  on  one  side,  and  American  capital  and  labor  on  the 
other.  On  this  pivot,  in  our  regard,  tnrns  the  destiny  of  nations.  SUSTAIN  the  position  of  Ameri 
can  capital  and  labor,  that  every  man  may  be  secure  of  the  fair  reward  of  his  exertion?,  however 
humble  his  birth  and  calling,  and  freedom  will  prevail  all  the  world  over.  The  American  people. 
united  and  resolved  in  this  great  emprise,  can  beat  the  world — the  whole"  world — on  this  platform,  and 
crumble  into  dust  the  bulwarks  of  despotic  sway.  BUT,  let  European  capital  and  labor  PREVAIL  against 
us,  and  there  is  an  end  of  freedom,  till  another  cycle  of  ages,  with  its  sad  round  of  experience,  shall 
burst  the  chains  again,  and  they  who  succeed  shall  better  appreciate  their  duty  and  their  chances. 
The  battle  for  American  freedom  was  only  begun  in  the  establishment  of  American  independence 
The  commercial  systems  of  Europe,  as  they  act  upon  us  through  the  agency  of  European  capital 
and  labor,  are  more  to  be  feared  than  all  the  power  of  European  arms.  A  perpetual  war  would 
be  less  expensive  and  less  perilous  than  the  effects  of  this  occult,  silent,  insinuating,  all-perva 
ding  power,  ifunresisted  by  us. 

And  is  all  this  against  commerce  ? 

Certainly  not.  But  the  question  is,  How  we  can  make  commerce  most  profitable  ?  Whether  we 
shall  put  and  keep  this  whole  nation  in  the  hands  of  a  few  importing  merchants,  that  they  may 
become  <l  merchant  princes,"  and  into  the  hands  of  the  agents  of  British  and  foreign  manufac 
tories,  to  be  their  slaves?  or  whether  we  shall  yet  be  free  and  independent?  We  have  shown 
that  our  home  trade  is  some  twenty  to  one  more  than  our  foreign  trade,  and  that  our  foreign 
trade,  unregulated,  or  nearly  so,  has  been  the  cause  of  all  our  commercial  and  currency  troubles, 
from  time  to  time,  in  the  progress  of  our  history.  The  practical  question,  therefore,  is,  How 
foreign  trade  can  be  regulated,  so  as  not  to  destroy  hoth  domestic  and  foreign  ?  By  a  suitable 
protection  of  home  industry,  and  American  capital  and  labor,  we  can  increase  our  trade  in  a 
manifold  degree,  without  any  risk,  and  with  a  certainty  of  an  increase  of  national  wealth :  whereas, 
an  extension  of  foreign  trade  at  the  expense  of  domestic,  is  sure  to  ruin  all. 

The  importance  of  our  domestic  trade. 

We  have  stated  in  our  Tract  on  the  Currency,  from  good  authority,  that  the  domestic  exchanges 
of  this  country,  required  to  be  negotiated  for  the  settlement  of  accounts  in  trade,  amount  to  not 
less  than  four  hundred  millions  of  dollars  annually.  As  this  mode  of  business  is  comparatively  rare, 
and  is  little  employed,  except  in  the  larger  and  more  formal  transactions  of  commerce,  the  fact  in 
a  sufficient  indication  of  the  vast  domestic  trade  of  the  country. 

A  question  easily  answered. 
Viz.,  Who  are  the  British  allies  in  this  country  ?    Ans.  The  advocates  of  free  trade. 

How  to  pay  our  foreign  debt. 

It  is  allowed  to  be  about  two  hundred  millions.  Regulate  our  foreign  trade  so  as  to  bring  a  bal 
ance  of  twenty  millions  a  year  in  our  favor,  and  the  account  will  all  be  settled  in  ten  years,  so  far 
as  the  nation  is  concerned,  and  that  without  prejudice,  and  with  great  benefit  to  the  interests  of  the 
country.  In  1840  we  actually  settled  twenty-four  millions  of  this  reckoning.  (See  page  13,  last 
paragraph.)  That  such  a  policy  of  liquidation  would  be  a  tax  upon  none,  and  alike  beneficial  to 
all,  will  appear  from  the  general  argument  of  these  pages. 

Our  leases  of  national  prosperity. 

Heretofore  our  national  prosperity  has  been  leased  to  us  at  will  by  the  agents  of  foreign  manufac 
tories  and  importing  merchants  ;  and  the  usual  run  of  a  lease  is  not  over  ten  years,  more  apt  to  be 
about  five,  and  is  liable  to  expire  in  two  or  three.  It  depends  entirely  on  their  success  in  tempting 
us  into  an  excessive  consumption  of  foreign  products.  W'thout  a  protective  system,  they  would 
doubtless  be  able  to  bring  us  all  to  the  grotmd,  and  lay  us  flat  on  our  backs  again,  in  about  three  years. 

The  leaning  of  great  commercial  cities,  engaged  in  foreign  commerce,  towards  free  trade. 
It  would  certainly  be  difficult  to  account  for  this  on  any  ptmciple  of  sound  judgment  or  patriotism. 
No  parts  of  the  community  can  be  more  interested  in  a  steady  and  healthful  couise  of  trade,  than  our 
*arge  commercial  towns;  and  no  other  equal  portion  of  our  country  suffered  so  much  as  New- 
York  in  the  revulsion  of  1837-'40.  Whenever  the  effects  of  excessive  imports  come,  as  come  they 
Oust,  with  desolating  power,  these  are  the  points  that  feel  it  first,  and,  ultimately  Buffer 

47 


16 

This  leaning  towards  free  trade,  therefore,  in  these  quarters,  can  orly  he  accounted  for  from  the  probable  fact. 
that  they  who  talk  so,  being  dtcply  in  for  it,  hope  to  escape,  or  hope  to  get  rich  and  retire  before  a  revulsion  comes, 
It  is  impossible  they  should  be  ignorant  of  the  cause  of  these  disasters. 

How  much  richer  we  might  have  been. 

On  the  last  page  of  our  Tract  on  the  Currency,  will  be  found  a  comprehensive  summary  of  the  losses  to  thi« 
country,  as  occasioned  by  the  revulsion  of  1637 -'40.  In  the  present  Tract  is  enough  to  show,  thai  We  have  been 
Buffering-  greatiy  ever  since  our  existence  as  an  independent  nation,  by  the  same  cause,  viz.,  the  want  of  a  piopet 
protective  system.  It  will  follow,  therefore,  that  we  have  suffered  incalculable  putbachs,  from  lime  to  time,  and 
that  no  one  can  tell  how  much  richer  we  should  have  been  as  a  nation,  under  such  a  system  of  government  as  our 
•ights  entitle  us  to.  We  can  not  help  the  past ;  but  it  will  he  our  own  fault,  if  we  do  not  take  care  of  the  future 

Just  what  we  want. 

We  want  a  system  of  foreign  commerce  that  will  secure  the  following-  results  : — First,  to  afford  adequate  protec 
tion  to  American  industry,  invention,  labor,  and  enterprise  ;  and  next,  to  afford  adequate  revenue  for  the  support 
and  objects  of  the  government.  With  a  proper  discrimination  in  the  imposition  of  duties  on  imports,  these  two'end* 
may  easily  be  accomplished. 

Our  country  a  world  in  itself. 

We  have  almost  every  variety  of  climate  and  soil  ;  our  mineral  resources  are  inexhaustibly  rich  in  nearly  all 
the  known  treasuies  of  those  regions  ;  manufactures  and  the  mechanic  arts,  in  every  variety,  can  be  cairied  to 
the  highest  perfection  here,  as  proved  by  experience  :  we  can  furnish  their  products  cheaper  than  they  can  be 
imported  ;  and  there  is  scarcely  any  want  of  man,  in  the  natural  or  social  state,  which  we  ciin  not  supply,  equal 
or  superior  in  quality,  and  on  better  terms  than  can  be  got  elsewhere.  Nature,  in  our  wide  domain,  is  all  boun 
tiful,  and  society  and  the  useful  arts  here  »re  not  surpassed  in  the  civilized  world.  The  enterprise  of  our  popula 
tion  is  unrivalled  ;  and  though  young,  we  have  come  to  a  maturity  in  national  importance,  resources,  and  oapabili- 
ties,  that  few  nations  can  boast  of.  In  this  position,  we  will  consent  to  trade  with  other  nations  on  fair  terms  ; 
but  to  be  dependent  first,  and  then  to  be  slaves — this  is  what  we  will  not  consent  to. 

Our  commercial  domain. 

Our  commercial  domain,  and  the  rights  appertaining  thereunto,  which  extend  over  all  public  seas,  penetrate  all 
empires,  and  are  co- extensive  with  the  globe,  limited  and  restricted  only  by  the  law  of  nations,  are  as  important 
to  be  defended  as  the  rights  of  our  territorial  domain.  The  latter,  indeed,  will  prove  to  be  of  little  value,  unless 
the  former  can  be  maintained  in  all  its  integrity.  Our  independence  is  vulnerable  chiefly,  almost  solely,  through 
the  channels  of  our  foreign  trade.  It  is  through  these  easy  loop-holes,  spacious  avenues,  and  open-mouthed  ducts, 
that  European  capital  and  labor  have  poured  in  their  products  upon  us,  to  suppress  American  industry,  and  brinjf 
down  the  price  of  American  labor  to  the  European  standard. 

Retrospective  and  prospective. 

In  our  late  commercial  revulsion,  lahor  among  us  stood  like  Laocoon  and  his  offspring,  writhing  in  the  contortiv» 
folds  of  the  serpent,  which  hissed  in  the  ear  of  its  victims  the  death  that  awaited  them,  till  the  tariff  of  1842  came 
to  its  relief.  On  the  basis  of  free  trade  in  our  foreign  commerce,  it  is  inevitable,  that  American  capital  and  labor 
will  together  fall  into  the  arms  of  European  capita!  and  labor,  and  expire  in  the  grip  ;  and  the  hopes  of  the  world, 
based  on  American  freedom,  will  die  with  it.  For,  it  is  not  a  problem  yet  to  be  solved,  that  the  emascu luting  in 
fluence  of  European  toil,  meted  out  by  despotism  to  the  masses  of  mankind,  unfits  man  either  to  assert,  or  acquire, 
or  maintain  freedom.  Ot:ce  reduce  the  price  of  American  labor  to  a  bare  subsistence,  and  hardly  that,  which  it 
the  lot  of  European  labor,  and  to  which  free  trade  in  our  foreign  commerce  inevitably  tends,  and  down  goes  with 
it  the  value  of  American  capiial — and  down  for  ever  all  the  dear  and  precious  rights  of  American  fieedom.  "  Have 
you  any  children  ?"  »sked  a  British  government  commissioner,  of  a  respectable  weaver.  Ans.  "  No  ;  I  had  two, 
but  they  are  both  dead,  thanks  be  to  God."  "  But,  di»  you  express  satisfaction  at  the  death  of  your  children  ?* 
Ans.  "  I  do.  I  thank  God  for  it.  I  am  relieved  from  the  burden  of  maintaining  them  ;  and  they,  po&r  dear  crea 
tures,  are  relieved  from  the  troubles  of  this  mortal  life."  This  is  a  pretty  fair  picture  of  the  condition  of  European 
laborers,  when  death,  in  the  shape  of  starvation  and  overwork,  is  s->  cruel  as  to  spare  them  ;  and  this  is  th-e  con 
dition  to  which  the  policy  of  free  trade  in  our  foreign  commerce,  would  reduce  every  American,  laborer! 

What  ive  have  proved. 

It  will  probably  he  admitted,  that  the  following  things,  among  others,  have  been  established  : — 

1.  That  the  great  bulk  of  the  trade  of  this  country  is  domestic. 

2.  That  buying  too  much  in  our  foreign  trade,  has  been  the  cause  of  all  our  commercial  and  currency  difficulties 

3.  That  it  is  impossible  that  such  difficulties  should  arise  from  the  action  of  domestic  trade. 

4.  That  this  buying  too  much,  draws  the  specie  out  of  the  country,  and  undermines  the  currency. 

5.  That  the  only  way  to  prevent  this  buying  too  much,  is  to  establish  and  maintain  a  restrictive  and  protective 
policy. 

6.  That  the  only  parties  benefited  by  this  immense   injury  to  the  country,  are  foreign  governments,  foreign 
manufacturers,  and  a  few  importing  merchants  among  ourselves. 

7.  That  we  can  never  have  a  foreign  trade  profitable  to  the  country,  or  otherwise  than  injurious,  till  this  prao 
lice  of  buying  too  much  of  foreign  nations  he  suppressed. 

8.  That  the  importance  of  foreign  trade  is  commonly  overrated,  and  that  American  se//-dependence  is  a  more 
safe  reliance. 

9.  That  the  products  of  manufactures  are  cheapened,  and  the  wages  of  labor  enhanced,  by  protective  duties. 

10.  That  both  American  labor  and  American  capital  are  victims  of  European  capital  and  labor,  on  the  platform 
•f  free  trade. 

11.  That  American  freedom  and  independence  are  put  in  jeopardy  by  our  foreign  trade,  as  heretofore  conducted 

12.  That  the  entire  controversy  is  between  the  rights  of  American  labor  and  the  claims  of  European  despotism. 

13.  That  we  are  a  world  in  ourselves,  and  have  no  need  to  desire  or  seek  a  commerce  with  foreign  nations  that 
will  not  render  an  equivalent  for  what  we  bestow. 

14.  That  foreign  trade,  unregulated,  is  competent  to  destroy  both  itself  and  domestic  trade,  and  that  such  is  its 

15.  That  domestic  manufactures  employ  and  put  into  active  and  profitable  use  a  vast  amount  of  American  capital 
«n  which  labor  depends,  and  that  the  greater  the  number  and  extent  of  home  manufactures,  the  better  the  chance* 

16.  That  the  commercial  systems  of  Europe  are  hostile  to  American  interests,  and  require  countervailing  regu 

17.  That  British  policy  contemplates  the  revival  of  colonial  dependence  on  our  part,  and  that  such  is  the  ten 
dency  of  the  ac';ual  system  of  trade  between  the  two  countries. 

18.  That  a  pro/nctiue  tariff  is  indispensable   to  our  prosperity  as  a  nation,  and  is  a  truly  patriotic  measure, 
equally  important  to  all  sections  of  ihe  country,  and  all  class:s  of  American  citizens,  if  \ve  except  a  fe.w\\\  porting 
merchants,  leagued  with  agents  of  foreign  and  hostile  interests,  who  are  willing  to  make  their  fortunes  on  Uw 
nuns  of  a  great  country.    And  sundry  other  cognate  results,  for  which  see  the  text. 

4-8 


THE 

;         JUNIUSTRACTS.  " 

:;l,^r/:    No.  IY. 

SEPT.]  PUBLISHED  EVERY  SECOND  MONTH.  [1843. 


LIFE  OF  HEFEY  CLAY, 

BY  JUNIUS. 

Author  of  "  THE  CRISIS  OF  THE  COUNTRY,"  and  other  Tracts  of  1840. 
Price,  3  cents  single,  $2  50  cts.  per  100,  or  $20  per  1000. 


TRACTS  ALREADY  PUBLISHED. 

No.     I.  THE  TEST,  OR  PARTIES  TRIED  BY  THEIR  ACTS. 
«     II.  THE  CURRENCY. 
«    III.  THE   TARIFF. 
«    IV.  LIFE  OF  HENRY  CLAY. 
«      V.  POLITICAL  ABOLITION. 

07"  NOTICE :  Committees,  Clubs,  and  all  persons  desirous  of  obtaining  these  Tracts, 
are  requested  to  send  their  orders,  with  remittances,  to  the  publishers,  Greeley  $  McElraik, 
Tribune.  Office,  New  York,  who  will  promptly  forward  them  to  any  part  of  the  Union,  as  may 
be  directed.  Remittances  by  mail,  post  paid  or  free,  at  the  risk  of  the  proprietor.  Price  for 
any  one  of  the  series,  $2  50  cts.  per  100  copies,  or  $20  per  1000. 

ID"  Postmasters  are  authorized  by  law  to  make  remittances  under  their  frank. 


NEW  YORK: 
PUBLISHED  BY  GREELEY  &  McELRATH, 

TRIBUNE  BUILDINGS,  160  NASSAU  STREET. 


1844. 


(Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1843,  by  CALVIN  COLTON,  in  the  Clerk's  office  of  tfcft 
District  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  and  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York.] 

87"  EXTRACTS  in  Newspapers,  for  purpose  of  review,  are  allowed,  but  the  republication  of  tlito 

Tract  is  forbidden. 

[One  Sheet  Periodical,  Postage  under  100  miles  1$  cents  ;  over  100  miles  2J.] 
4-9 


, 

2 

LIFE  OF  HENRY  CLAY. 

MR.  CLAY  was  born  the  12th  of  April,  1777,  in  Hanover  county,  Virginia.  His  father  was 
a  Baptist  minister,  who  left  his  wife  a  widow  in  indigence,  when  Henry  was  in  his  fifth  year, 
with  seven  young  children,  and  two  younger  than  Henry.  Mr.  Robert  Hughes,  a  playfellow 
of  Henry  Clay  in  boyhood,  said  ef  his  old  friend,  at  a  dinner  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1843,  at 
Campbell  Court  House,  Virginia :  "  He  and  I  were  born  close  to  the  slashes  of  old  Hanover. 
He  worked  barefooted,  and  so  did  I.  He  went  to  mill,  and  so  did  I.  He  was  good  to  his 
mamma,  and  so  was  I.  I  know  him  like  a  book,  and  love  him  like  a  brother."  The  boy 
that  works  barefooted  for  his  mother,  will  be  very  likely,  when  he  comes  to  be  a  man,  if 
Providence  opens  the  way,  to  serve  his  country  well.  The  two  spheres  are  kindred  to  each 
other. 

Mr.  Clay's  first  rudiments  of  education  were  acquired  in  a  log  schoolhouse.  In  the  mean 
time,  he  had  to  work  barefooted  and  go  to  mill.  He  is  familiarly  called  in  "  old  Hanover" 
the  "  MILL-BOY  OF  THE  SLASHES," — having  been  so  often  seen  between  his  mother's  house 
and  Mrs.  Darricott's  grist-mill  on  the  Pamunkey,  mounted  on  a  bag  and  a  poney,  guided  by  a 
rope-bridle.  At  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  went  to  serve  as  clerk  with  Mr.  Richard  Denny, 
druggist,  in  Richmond,  Va.  ;  and  the  next  year,  1792,  went  into  the  office  of  Peter  Tinsley, 
Esq.,  clerk  of  the  High  Court  of  Chancery,  where  he  attracted  the  notice,  and  received  the 
kind  regards  of  the  venerable  Chancellor  Wythe,  who  afterward  employed  him  as  his  amanu 
ensis  in  recording  his  decisions,  comments,  &c.  In  these  not  unfavorable  positions,  spurred  on 
by  his  ambition,  and  cherished  by  the  Chancellor  and  others  who  had  the  sagacity  to  recog 
nise  the  germe  of  his  future  eminence,  he  made  rapid  advances  in  legal  and  other  studies. 
After  spending  his  nineteenth  year  in  the  office  of  Robert  Brooke,  Esq.,  Attorney  General 
for  the  State  of  Virginia,  Mr.  Clay  obtained  license  for  the  practice  of  law  from  the  Judges 
of  the  Court  of  Appeals  in  las  native  State. 

Removal  to  Kentucky. 

In  1792  Mr.  Clay's  mother  had  married  Mr.  Henry  Watkins,  and  removed  with  her  family 
to  Woodford  county,  Kentucky.  Attracted  by  his  filial  regard,  Henry  was  induced  te  follow 
her;  and  in  1797  Mr.  Clay,  a  youth  of  twenty,  opened  an  attorney's  office  in  Lexington,  as 
he  says  in  his  speech  of  June  6,  1842,  at  that  place,  "without  patrons,  without  the  favor  or 
countenance  of  the  great  or  opulent,  and  without  the  means  of  paying  my  weekly  board.  I 
remember  how  comfortable  I  thought  I  should  be,  if  I  could  make  one  hundred  pounds,  Virginia 
money,  a  year,  and  with  what  delight  I  received  the  first  fifteen-shilling  fee.  My  hopes  were 
more  than  realized.  I  immediately  rushed  into  a  lucrative  practice." 

Jl  pleasant  story. 

^  While  Mr.  Clay  was  yet  a  stranger  at  Lexington,  he  joined  a  debating  club,  but  for  some 
time  declined  taking  any  part  in  the  discussions.  After  a  while,  however,  it  happened  that 
a  question  was  about  to  be  put  by  the  chairman  for  decision,  when  Mr.  Clay,  in  a  low  voke, 
said  to  a  fellow-member  by  his  side,  that  he  thought  the  question  was  not  exhausted.  Where 
upon,  glad  of  the  chance,  and  without  leave,  Mr.  Clay's  friend  suddenly  rose,  and  said,  "  Mr. 
Chairman,  Mr.  Clay  will  speak  on  this  question."  Thus  unexpectedly  forced  up,  and  abashed 
with  that  diffidence  which  gifted  minds  usually  feel  before  they  are  used  to  collision  with, 
other  minds,  Mr.  Clay  began  :  "  Gentlemen  of  the  Jury,"  and  perceiving  his  mistake,  he 
stopped  short.  But  through  the  politeness  of  the  chairman  and  the  club,  who  had  wished  to 
see  him  come  out,  he  was  encouraged  to  begin  again  :  "  Gentlemen  of  the  Jury,"  said  Mr. 
Clay,  and  there  he  stopped.  At  last,  however,  he  got  over  the  distressing  balk,  and  gradually 
acquiring  self-possession,  he  made  an  argument  that  excited  the  astonishment  and  admiration 
of  all.  The  ice  being  thus  broken,  he  walked  straight  into  a  reputation,  that  has  never 
flagged,  and  never  been  stained. 

The  self-made  man. 

"  Some  are  born  great,  some  achieve  greatness,  and  some  have  greatness  thrust  upon  them." 
The  first  certainly  was  not  the  lot  of  Henry  Clay,  nor  was  greatness  thrust  upon  him.  All 
the  distinction  he  has  acquired,  was  achieved — achieved  by  his  single  arm,  by  his  own  lofty 
aims.  Such  is  the  self-made  man.  He  will  ever  be  honored,  who,  by  his  own  inherent  vigor 
and  high  aspirations,  has  successfully  contended  against  obstacles  that  would  dispirit  ordinary 
minds,  and  baffled  in  an  honorable  career  the  adverse  winds  and  storms  of  unhopeful  birth  and 
fortune.  In  the  blood  and  on  the  graves  of  our  fathers,  martyrs  to  freedom,  was  laid  a  plat 
form  for  such  endeavors,  on  which  our  youth,  whatever  their  origin,  may  build  high  hopes, 
and  earn  an  imperishable  fame.  The  spectacle  of  the  boy  working  "  barefooted"  for  his 
mother,  touches  all  hearts;  and  when  that  boy,  in  riper  years,  is  seen  toiling  through  a  like 
career  for  his  country,  the  mother  of  us  all,  he  obeys  the  instincts,  and  fulfils  the  high  destinv 
oC  fcis  filial  piety. 

50 


3 

Mr.  Clay  at  the  bar. 

It  might  be  difficult  to  say,  whether  Mr.  Clay  was  more  able  in  the  management  of  criminal 
or  civil  causes  ;  but  it  is  easy  to  decide  in  which  he  early  acquired  the  highest  reputation.  His 
characteristic  sympathy  for  the  unfortunate,  especially  for  persons  in  peril  of  life,  awoke  the 
profoundest  feelings  of  his  nature,  and  he  never  failed  of  success  in  his  defence  of  persons  ac 
cused  of  capital  crime,  though  he  had  cases  in  hand  which  seemed  to  all  others  hopeless,  as 
for  example,  those  of  Mrs.  Phelps,  of  the  two  Germans,  father  and  son,  and 'of  Willis,  all 
clearly  cases  of  murder  in  an  aggravated  degree,  but  all  successfully  defended  by  this  young 
advocate.  The  only  capital  case  in  which  he  appeared  for  plaintiffs,  was  against  a  slave, 
who  had  killed  his  master  while  undertaking  to  chastise  him,  which  resulted  in  the  slave's 
condemnation.  With  this  exception,  Mr.  Clay  has  always  been  the  defender  of  slaves,  and 
often,  never  Avithout  success,  volunteered  his  services  in  suits  for  their  freedom,  and  in  other 
cases.  It  has  ever  been  a  scrupulous  rule  with  Mr.  Clay,  that  no  man,  freeman  or  slave,  should 
go  without  defence  in  law  for  want  of  money,  when  it  was  in  his  power  to  aid  them. 

Nor  was  Mr.  Clay  less  successful  in  civil  cases.  Down  to  this  time,  he  has  been  regarded 
as  second  to  no  counsellor  in  the  Union.  In  one  case,  involving  the  land  laws  of  Virginia 
and  Kentucky,  while  yet  a  young  man,  lie  had,  in  a  necessary  absence,  left  it  in  the  hands  of 
an  associate  counsel,  who  was  foiled  by  his  opponents  at  all  points,  during  a  two-days  contest ; 
but  just  as  the  case  was  being  submitted  to  the  Court,  who  would  doubtless  have  decided 
against  him,  Mr.  Clay  came  in,  had  a  moment's  conversation  with  his  colleague,  addressed 
the  Court  for  half  an  hour,  in  total  ignorance  of  the  evidence  that  had  been  adduced,  and 
gained  the  cause ! 

Mr.  Clay  and  emancipation. 

When  Mr.  Clay  arrived  in  Kentucky,  he  found  the  people  of  the  State  agitating  the  question 
of  remodelling  the  Constitution,  and  a  very  respectable  minority  were  in  favor  of  introducing  a 
clause  for  the  gradual  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  as  had  been  done  in  some  of  the  northern 
States,  by  freeing  at  a  specific  age  those  born  after  the  adoption  of  the  proposed  Constitution, 
that  ultimately  all  should  be  free.  Mr.  Clay  enlisted  in  this  project  of  emancipation  with 
great  zeal,  and  devoted  all  his  energies,  through  the  press,  by  personal  influence,  and  in  an 
active  campaign,  to  accomplish  this  end.  But  he  and  his  associates  were  unsuccessful.  More 
than  twenty  years  afterwards,  when  he  proposed  the  compromise  to  settle  the  Missouri  ques 
tion,  he  declared,  on  the  floor  of  Congress,  that,  if  he  were  a  citizen  of  Missouri,  he  would  use 
all  his  influence  to  establish  a  system  of  gradual  and  ultimate  emancipation,  and  he  earnestly 
recommended  it.  In  a  speech  at  the  anniversary  of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  in  1827, 
Mr.  Clay  said  of  slavery,  "  If  I  could  only  be  instrumental  in  eradicating  this  deepest  stain 
upon  the  character  of  our  country,  I  would  not  exchange  the  proud  satisfaction  I  should  enjoy 
for  the  honor  of  all  the  triumphs  ever  decreed  to  the  most  successful  conqueror." 

The  alien  and  sedition  laws. 

These  two  laws  were  passed  at  the  Session  of  1798-59.  The  first  ga,ve  power  to  the  Presi 
dent  to  banish  an  alien  at  his  discretion,  if  he  judged  his  presence  here  prejudicial  to  the  in 
terests  of  the  country  ;  and  the  second  put  a  stopper  on  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press, 
in  discussing  the  merits  of  public  men.  The  second  was  certainly  against  the  Constitution,  and 
the  first  was  no  less  a  bold  stride  towards  monarchical  power.  Kentucky  was  the  first  of  the 
States  that  shook  the  dewdrops  from  her  mane,  and  Henry  Clay  was  the  organ  of  her  indigna 
tion.  Then  only  twenty-two  years  of  age,  the  thunders  of  his  eloquence  electrified  the 
people.  No  other  man  was  so  prominent  in  the  field,  and  none  so  effective  in  that  influence, 
which  raised  Mr.  Jefferson  to  power,  as  this  young  champion  of  democracy.  A  true  democrat 
then,  he  is  so  still,  and  ever  has  been.  Where  can  be  found,  in  this  broad  land,  a  more  vigi 
lant  sentinel  of  popular  rights,  or  a  more  faithful  denouncer  of  Executive  usurpations,  and  the 
abuses  of  Executive  power  ? 

The  saddle  on  the  wrong  horse. 

In  a  reply  to  Mr.  Calhoun,  while  the  sub-treasury  was  under  debate,  Mr.  Clay  said  :  "All 
the  former  grounds  of  difference  which  distinguished  that  (the  Federal)  party,  and  were  the 
subjects  of  contention  between  them  and  the  Republicans,  have  ceased,  from  lapse  of  time 
and  change  of  circumstance,  except  one,  and  that  is  the  maintenance  and  increase  of  Executive 
power.  This  was  the  leading  policy  of  the  Federal  party.  A  strong,  powerful,  and  energetic 
Executive  was  its  favorite  tenet.  I  tell  the  gentleman,  that  he  will  find  the  true  old  democratic 
party,  who  were  for  resisting  the  encroachments  of  power,  and  limiting  Executive  patronage, 
on  this  side  of  the  Senate,  and  not  with  his  new  allies,  who  do  not  hold  a  solitary  principle  in 
common  with  the  republican  party  of  1798.  IT  is  THE  OLD  FEDERAL  PARTY  WITH  WHOM  HE  is 

NOW  ACTING." 

Mr.  Clay's  entrance  into  public  life. 

In  1803  Mr.  Clay  was  elected  from  Fayette  county  to  a  seat  in  the  lower  house  of  the  Ken 
tucky  legislature,  and  was  immediately  pitted  against  Mr.  Felix  Grundy  iu  defending  the 

51 


charter  of  the  Lexington  Insurance  Company  against  a  movement  for  its  repeal,  in  which  he 
was  successful  by  convincing  the  Senate,  who  listened  to  his  argument  in  the  Assembly, 
though  he  lost  the  vote  of  his  own  house.  It  was  in  this  field  that  Mr.  Clay's  parliamentary 
powers  were  first  presented  to  public  gaze,  and  gave  earnest  of  future  and  high  promise. 
He  was  a  leader  there,  as  everywhere,  and  a  favorite  of  the  public.  From  this  time  to  the 
war  of  1812,  we  find  him  alternately  in  the  legislature  of  his  adopted  State,  and  in  the  coun 
cils  of  the  nation  at  Washington.  In  1806  he  was  transferred  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  for  one  session,  to  fill  out  the  unexpired  term  of  the  Hon.  John  Adair,  resigned,  where 
he  immediately  distinguished  himself  as  one  of  the  earliest  movers — more  properly,  perhaps, 
the  founder — of  the  internal  improvement  system.  After  having  been  again  returned  to  the 
house  of  assembly  in  Kentucky,  and  made  speaker,  he  was  in  1809  sent"  back  to  the  United 
States  Senate  for  two  years,  to  complete  the  term  of  the  Hon.  Buckner  Thurston,  who  had 
resigned.  It  was  in  April,  1811,  while  a  bill  to  provide  munitions  of  war,  &c.,  was  under 
debate  in  the  Senate,  and  during  the  pendency  of  an  amendment  giving  preference  to  articles 
of  American  growth  and  manufacture.,  that  Mr.  Clay  boldly  and  distinctly  propounded  and 
advocated  his  views  on  the  policy  of  protection.  The  amendment  prevailed.  Mr.  Madison 
found  himself  sustained  by  all  the  powers  of  Mr.  Clay,  in  his  proclamation  to  assert  our 
jurisdiction  to  the  line  of  the  Perdido  in  Florida.  Various  and  active  were  the  exertions  oi 
Mr.  Clay  in  the  Senate,  during  this  Congress;  and  among  the  rest,  as  is  known,  he  was 
found  in  opposition  to  the  recharter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Clay  and  Aaron  Burr. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  envious  rivals  of  Mr.  Clay,  if  such  men  could  be  his  rivals, 
undertook  to  calumniate  him  for  consenting  to  defend  Colonel  Burr  on  his  first  trial.  Mr. 
Burr  had  written  to  Mr.  Clay,  and  assured  him,  on  the  honor  of  a  gentleman,  that  there  was 
no  foundation  for  the  charges  against  him ;  whereupon  Mr.  Clay,  with  his  characteristic 
generosity,  undertook  his  defence,  and  succeeded;  but  afterward,  having  discovered  the 
truth,  treated  him  as  he  deserved.  Evert  if  Mr.  Clay  had  had  no  such  assurances  from  Col. 
Burr,  it  would  be  a  slender  compliment  to  our  laws  and  institutions,  which  profess  to 
guaranty  an  accused  person  a  fair  trial,  to  deny  him  counsel ! 

Mr.  Clay  elected  to  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States. 

In  all  the  public  stations,  successively,  which  Mr,  Clay  occupied  from  1803  to  1811,  we 
find  him  always  prominent ;  always  looked  up  to,  though  a  young  man  ;  always  leading  off 
on  some  stirring  theme  or  in  some  important  measure,  riveting  the  attention  and  commanding 
the  respect  of  the  bodies  of  which  he  was  a  member,  and  rising  in  this  western  hemisphere  a 
star  of  uncommon  brilliancy.  Having  a  choice  of  a  seat  in  the  Senate  or  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  of  the  United  States,  in  1811,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  prefer  the  lattei',  for  the  stirring 
and  eventful  period  that  was  then  before  the  country,  in  a  prospect  of  war  with  Great  Britain. 
On  the  first  ballot  he  was  made  Speaker,  an  honor  never  before  or  since  conferred  on  a  new 
member. 

•••  ;.''.  Mr.  Clay  and  the.  war. 

It  is  known  that  we  went  into  the  war  with  Great  Britain  in  the  midst  of  powerfully-con 
flicting  opinions  as  to  the  necessity,  propriety,  or  expediency  of  so  momentous  a  step  ;  that 
the  administration  and  its  friends  were  vigorously  assailed  from  where  they  had  need  and 
some  claims  for  encouragement  and  support ;  that  the  first  stages  of  the  war  were  disastrous, 
and,  as  such,  gave  eminent  advantage  to  the  opposition  and  to  the  enemy.  But  the  brilliant 
achievements  of  its  later  stages,  and  the  final  result,  put  the  whole  matter  in  a  new  and  dif 
ferent  light.  The  lapse  of  nearly  thirty  years  has  served  only  to  impart  additional  validity 
to  a  general  conviction  at  first  entertained,  that  we  acquired  by  that  struggle  very  important 
benefits  and  needful  advantages. 

The  part  borne  by  Mr.  Clay,  in  that  trying  period  of  our  history,  adds  not  less  to  his  claims 
on  the  gratitude  of  his  country,  than  to  the  blaze  of  his  reputation.  At  one  time  portraying, 
in  manly  terms  and  with  flashing  indignation,  the  injuries  and  insults  of  the  foe ;  at  another, 
remonstrating  with  domestic  opponents :  then  turning,  with  a  true  American  heart,  and 
laying  his  electrifying  hand  on  the  heart  of  the  American  people,  he  disarmed  opposition, 
chased  away  the  fears  of  the  timid,  imparted  fresh  courage  to  the  strong,  and  stood  by  the 
Government,  erect,  prominent,  and  influential  in  its  counsels,  both  in  the  origination  and 
conduct  of  the  war.  He  was  as  a  general-in-chief  over  the  intellectual  power  of  the  country, 
and  the  breath  of  his  mouth  moved  over  it  as  the  wind  of  heaven  sways  the  forests  of  an 
unbroken  wilderness.  His  animating  spirit,  his  stirring  eloquence,  his  useful  counsels,  and 
his  untiring  agency,  from  the  position  he  occupied,  were  everywhere  felt,  and  equally  bene 
ficial  in  our  army  and  navy,  to  excite  them  to  noble  and  successful  deeds,  as  in  the  presiding 
magistracy  of  the  nation,  to  give  it  constancy  and  vigor.  By  his  timely  advice,  and  by  the 
magic  of  his  persuasions,  the  resources  of  the  country  started  up  from  their  places  of  repose, 
organized,  disciplined,  and  in  force ;  and  the  nation  was  victorious.  He  was  the  guiding 

52 


genius  of  the  conflict,  which  ended,  not  less  by  his  instrumentality,  for  the  honor  and  enduring 
good  of  the  republic.     See  the  detail  of  his  action  as  Speaker  and  Member  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  and  read  his  speeches,  as  an  illustration  and  in  proof  of  this  brief  sketch. 
Mr.  Madison's  estimate  of  Mr.  Clay. 

He  invited  him  repeatedly  into  his  Cabinet,  and  offered  him  the  mission  to  Russia,  then 
deemed  very  important.     He  even  proposed  to  put  Mr.  Clay  at  the  head  of  the  army ;  and 
was  only  deterred  from  sending   in  his  name  to  the  Senate  for  the  appointment  of  General-in- 
Chief  by  the  advice  that  he  could  not  be  spared  from  the  public  councils. 
Mr.  Clay's  services  in  the  Treaty  of  Ghent. 

When  the  offensive  demands  first  put  forward  by  the  British  Commissioners  were  chiefly 
waived,  a  diiiiculty  arose  in  a  want  of  harmony  in  our  own  Board,  on  a  very  important 
question,  to  wit,  whether  the  right  of  navigation  on  the  Mississippi  should  be  conceded  to  the 
British  /  Messrs.  Adams,  Gallatin,  and  Bayard,  were  in  favor  of  it,  and  Messrs.  Clay  and 
Russell  opposed  to  it.  The  reasons  for  it  were,  first,  that  it  was  a  former  right :  and,  next, 
that  if  not  granted,  it  was  likely  to  disturb  our  fishing  rights  as  before  enjoyed.  The  reasons 
against  it  were,  first,  that  when  before  conceded,  the  Mississippi  was  supposed  to  have  its 
sources  in  the  British  dominions,  in  which  case  it  is  a  usual  right  among  nations  ;  but  it  was 
since  ascertained,  that  its  sources  lie  within  our  jurisdiction.  The  British  might  as  properly 
demand  the  right  of  navigating  the  Connecticut,  the  Hudson,  the  Potomac,  or  any  or  all  of 
our  rivers.  Secondly,  the  instructions  of  our  commissioners  forbade  treating  on  the  naviga 
tion  of  rivers  whose  sources  are  in  our  bounds.  Thirdly,  in  the  then  present  and  prospective 
condition  of  the  great  west,  anJ  in  our  relations  with  Indian  tribes,  the  admission  of  the 
British  into  those  waters  must,  necessarily,  be  prolific  of  incalculable  evils,  of  endless 
controversy,  and  woulJ  endanger  the  peace  of  the  two  countries.  Mr.  Clay,  therefore,  being 
in  the  minority,  felt  himself  constrained  to  say,  that  he  would  put  his  signature  to  no  treaty 
conceding  the.  proposed  right.  This  lirought  Mr.  Bayard  over  to  his  side,  and  the  treaty  was 
concluded  without  prejudice  to  our  fishing  interests.  Who  can  tell  what  the  country  owes  to 
Mr.  Clay  for  his  foresight  and  firmness  on  this  occasion  ?. 

The  respect  and  esteem  he  acquired  with  the  British  commissioners,  the  honors  paid  him 
at  Paris  and  London  after  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty,  and  his  reception  at  home,  are  a 
sufficient  attestation  of  the  high  consideration  he  had  won  both  in  this  country  and  abroad. 

Mr.  Clay's  imputed  change  of  opinion  on  the  subject  of  a  national  bank. 

After  Mr.  Clay's  return  from  abroad,  he  was  again  sent  to  Congress,  and  again  made 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  It  was  this  Congress  (the  fourteenth)  which 
rechartered  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  Mr.  Clay  gave  it  his  support.  The  change, 
however,  was  rather  in  the  commercial  and  monetary  condition  of  the  country,  making  more 
evident  what  was  ft  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the  powers  of  Con 
gress,"  specified  in  the  Constitution,  in  regard  to  the  currency,  than  in  Mr.  Clay.  His  oppo 
sition  to  a  national  bank  in  1811  was  based  on  the  belief  he  then  entertained,  that  it  was  not 
"  necessary"  in  the  sense  of  the  Constitution,  and  therefore  not  "  proper,"  and  that  the 
State  banks  were  sufficient.  But  the  sad  experience  of  four  years,  without  a  national  bank, 
had  demonstrated  to  Mr.  Clay's  mind,  and  to  all  the  world,  that  the  State  banks  were  insuf 
ficient,  and  that  a  national  bank  was  "  necessary,"  which  brought  such  a  measure  within  the 
constitutional  powers  of  the  General  Government.  This  was  the  change.  Mr.  Clay's  former 
opinion  was  founded  on  one  set  of  facts,  the  latter  on  another ;  and  though  there  is  a  differ 
ence,  there  is  no  inconsistency. 

Anecdotes. 

For  having  voted  for  Mr.  Richard  M.  Johnson's  "  Compensation  Sill,"  in  18 16,  an  unpopu 
lar  measure,  and  repealed  at  the  next  Congress,  Mr.  Clay  had  to  make  his  defence  to  his 
constituents.  Meeting  an  old  hunter  one  day,  who  was  against  him  on  that  account,  Mr. 
Clay  asked  him :  "  Have  you  a  good  rifle,  my  friend  ?"  "  Yes."  "  Does  it  ever  flash  ?" 
u  It  did  once."  "  And  did  you  throw  it  away  ?3>  "  No :  T  picked  the  flint,  tried  it  again,  and 
brought  down  the  game."  "  Have  I  ever  flashed,  except  on  the  Compensation  Bill  ?"  "  No  !w 
"  And  will  you  throw  me  away  ?"  "  No  !  no !"  cried  the  hunter,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  and 
grasping  Mr.  Clay's  hand, — "  No  !  no  !  I  will  pick  the  flint,  and  try  you  again." 

A  barber  in  Lexington  was  also  in  the  same  state  of  feeling  toward  Mr.  Clay,  and  about 
to  vote  against  him.  But  meeting  Mr.  Clay  one  day  in  the  street,  he  accosted  him,  and  said, 
u  I  have  wronged  you,  Mr.  Clay."  "  How  so  ?"  "  Why,  my  wife  came  to  me,  and  said, 
*  Jerry,  don't  you  remember  when  you  were  in  jail,  and  Mr.  Clay  came  and  let  you  out  ? 
and  will  you  vote  against  him  ?'  <  No !  no !  Jinny,'  I  said,  <  do  you  think  I  am  such  a  beast  V  " 

Mr.  Clay's  efforts  in  Congress  for  the  recognition  of  the  independence  of  the  South  American  State*. 

The  name  of  Henry  Clay,  of  North  America,  is  better  known,  and  excites  more  gratitude, 

in  the  republics  and  States  of  South  America,  than  that  of  any  other  man,  living  or  dead, 

53 


foreign  to  that  quarter  of  the  globe ;  and  he  is  known  there  only  as  the  early,  disinterested, 
heroic  advocate  of  their  emancipation.  If  they  have  not  yet  done  as  well  as  we  could  have 
wished,  it  detracts  not  at  all  from  the  virtue  which  so  magnanimously  espoused  their  cause, 
and  finally  won  for  them  such  important  advantages.  In  1816  Mr.  Clay  begun  to  plead  for 
them  in  the  American  Congress  ;  in  1818  he  made  a  speech  in  those  halls,  which  was  read  at 
the  head  of  the  armies  of  South  America,  while  fighting  for  freedom,  and  electrified  their 
hearts  ;  and  in  1822,  after  six  years  of  struggle  against  opposition,  he  had  the  satisfaction  of 
witnessing  the  consummation  of  his  aims,  in  the  recognition  of  their  independence  by  our 
Government.  In  1827  he  had  a  letter  of  thanks  from  Bolivar,  to  which  he  replied,  with  his 
characteristic  frankness,  expressing  his  regrets  that  Bolivar  had  disappointed  the  hopes  of 
mankind,  and  commending  to  him  the  example  of  the  immortal  Washington. 

Mr.  Clay  on  Internal  Improvement. 

On  the  Cumberland  road  is  erected  a  monument,  surmounted  by  the  Genius  of  Liberty,  anJ 
inscribed  with  the  name  of  HENRY  CLAY,  in  recognition  and  testimony  of  the  fact,  that  this 
great  national  work,  which  has  levelled' the  Alleganies,  and  created  a  powerful  bond  for  the 
perpetuity  of  the  Union,  owes  its  existence  to  him,  as  a  part  of  that  great  and  beneficent 
"  American  System,"  so  called,  of  which  he  is  the  acknowledged  father.  Internal  improve 
ment,  as  a  national  policy,  though  sanctioned,  as  is  believed,  by  the  Constitution,  and  without 
doubt  sanctioned  by  the  opinion  and  wishes  of  the  country,  when  freely  and  fairly  expressed, 
has  balked  sadly  all  along  by  means  of  Executive  scruples  and  one-man  power.  For  a  length 
of  years  Mr.  Clay  battled  heroically  for  this  sublime  enterprise,  and  has  stamped  upon  the 
public  mind  an  impression  not  easily  to  be  eradicated.  He  has  sown  seed  in  the  field,  which, 
under  more  genial  suns,  will  yield  their  fruit.  The  question  lies  only  for  a  while  upon  the 
shelf,  where  unworthy  hands  have  put  it,  and  will  doubtless  come  down  again  to  fructify  the 
Union  with  its  blessings.  Nay,  it  is  not  on  the  shelf.  The  influence  of  the  originator  and 
stimulator  of  this  magnificent  scheme,  has  been  felt  by  the  States,  and  prompted  the  members 
of  the  great  family,  in  their  separate  capacity,  to  assume  the  more  appropriate  functions  of 
the  unnatural  parent,  and,  in  no  small  extent,  to  make  amends  for  her  defect  of  duty.  It 
must  be  done,  and  will  be  done.  Then  will  the  Union  be  bound  by  ties  which  nothing  can 
break,  and  the  great  arteries  of  this  life-giving  influence  will  conduct  the  vital  current  te 
every  part.  "-..(  , 

Mr.  Clay  and  American  labor. 

It  has  been  the  lot,  the  good  fortune,  the  peculiar  talent,  the  high  gift,  we  may  say  the 
genius  of  Henry  Clay,  not  only  in  being  endowed  with  sagacity  to  pry  into  the  present,  but 
with  prophecy  to  look  into  the  future.  A  wise  system  of  national  policy,  in  all  its  parts, 
would  seem  to  have  sprung  forth  in  full  maturity  from  his  mind,  before  the  seed  had  broken 
its  shell  in  the  general  mind.  Hence  the  tardiness  with  which  the  nation  has  been  inducted  into 
his  views,  and  the  facility  with  which  they  have  been  temporarily  blinded.  Winds  and  storms 
and  the  convulsions  of  nature  may  disturb  the  action  of  the  tides;  but  these  mighty  move 
ments  of  nature  do  not  follow  the  sun  and  the  moon  more  surely,  than  the  public  mind  of  this 
country  moves  forward  in  the  path  of  its  inspired  and  guiding  genius.  Mr.  Clay  has  never 
propounded  a  great  thought  or  a  great  measure,  or  made  a  public  argument,  which  has  not 
sunk  into  the  mind  of  the  American  people,  and  gone  to  the  bottom,  where  it  is  securely 
anchored.  He  has  only  to  stand  still,  and  the  nation  will  come  to  him.  It  is  coming  nmv, 
has  long  been  coming,  it  has  come. 

Take  that  part  of  hi?  "  American  system,"  which  throws  its  shield  over  American  labor, 
industry,  and  enterprise,  \v  ,:£•::<.  was  conceived  by  Mr.  Clay  when  he  first  came  into  public 
life,  and  which  has  been  toiled  for  by  him  from  that  day  to  this,  and  there  is  not  a  single 
article  of  it  which  the  public  mind  of  the  country  is  not  at  this  moment  prepared  to  adopt. 
(See  our  Tract  on  the  Tariff.)  It  is  at  last  found  out,  that  American  labor,  industry,  enter 
prise,  products,  and  interests,  must  be  protected — that  protection  is  not  only  necessary,  but 
proper  in  the  nature  of  things,  and  in  the  laws  of  human  society;  and  that  nothing  is  more 
preposterous,-  or  more  suicidal,  than  to  put  and  leave  ourselves  in  the  power  of  foreign  fac 
tors  and  foreign  Governments,  as,  to  a  great  extent,  we  have  done  heretofore. 

What  American  labor — (we  use  this  term  in  all  its  applications  to  manufactures,  the 
mechanic  arts,  agriculture,  and  commerce,  more  especially  the  firs*  iwo) — what  American 
labor  owes  to  Mr.  Clay,  is  too  well  known  to  need  repetition.  It  has  been  badly  enough  pro 
tected,  at  best.  But  all  it  has  had  of  fair  reward,  all  the  manufactories  that  have  sprung  up 
in  the  country  on  which  labor  so  extensively  depends,  the  entire  system  indeed,  are  chiefly 
to  be  ascribed  to  the  conceptions,  zeal,  and  efforts  of  Henry  Clay.  Not  to  speak  of  the 
decided  stand  he  took  at  an  early  period  in  his  adopted  State,  or  of  his  efforts  of  the  same 
character  in  Congress,  in  1816,  when  the  proper  effectiveness  of  the  tariff  of  that  year  failed 
only  by  the  loss  of  Mr.  Clay's  amendment,  which  he  urged  with  so  much  eloquence  and  zeal, 
in  1820,  when  the  specie  was  flowing  out  of  the  country  like  rivers  into  the  sea,  for  want  of 

:  •*  •)•* 


an  adequate  tariff,  a  new  and  great  effort  was  made,  with  Mr.  Clay  at  its  head,  which  failed, 
notwithstanding  all  the  agony  of  his  patriotic  endeavors.  Foreseeing  the  fate  of  the  measure, 
while  under  debate,  Mr.  Clay  said  : — "  I  frankly  own,  that  I  feel  great  solicitude  for  the  suc 
cess  of  this  bill."  And  in  his  deep  and  thrilling  tone,  he  added : — "  But  L  will  not  despair. 
The  cause,  I  verily  believe,  is  the  cause  of  the  country.  It  may  be  postponed ;  it  may  be 
frustrated  for  the  moment;  but  it  finally  must  prevail.''  In  1824,  it  did  prevail,  and  Mr. 
Justice  Baldwin,  of  the  Supreme  Court,  said  of  Mr.  Clay  on  that  occasion,  that  "  he  was 
General,  corporal,  and  private,"  so  multiform  were  his  functions,  so  assiduous  his  efforts.  It 
has  been  said,  and  facts  attest  its  truth,  that  the  seven  years  subsequent  to  the  tariff  of  1824, 
were  the  most  prosperous  in  the  history  of  the  country.  The  tariff  of  1828  was  in  some  re 
spects  unequal  and  unfair,  in  consequence  of  an  attempt  of  Martin  Van  Buren  and  Silas  Wright 
to  break  down  the  system,  by  over-straining  certain  parts  of  it,  in  which,  for  the  time,  they  failed. 

The  Compromise  Act. 

Mr.  Clay  has  been  blamed  for  this.  And  why  ?  But  for  that,  Mr.  Verplanck's  bill, 
reducing  duties  to  a  common  level  of  15  per  cent.,  known  to  be  an  Administration  measure, 
would  have  passed,  and  the  whole  system  of  manufactures,  and  all  the  capital  vested  in  them, 
would  have  perished.  In  addition  to  this,  nullification  threatened  to  deluge  the  land  in  the 
blood  of  a  civil  war.  Mr.  Clay's  object,  therefore,  in  the  Compromise,  was,  first,  to  appease 
nullification;  next,  to  save  the  system  of  manufactures;  and  last,,  to  give  the  nation,  and  all 
parties,  time  for  reflection.  He  knew  that  nullification  would  cool  down,  that  the  policy  of 
Mr.  Verplanck's  bill,  at  that  moment  in  danger  of  being  forced  upon  the  country,  would  not 
bear  sober  reflection,  and  that  it  was  competent  for  Congress  at  any  time  to  reconsider  its  pre 
vious  acts,  and  repeal  or  modify  them.  The  Compromise  Act,  therefore,  was  a  remedial, 
healing  measure  for  an  alarming  crisis,  and  as  such  necessary  and  most  beneficent.  One 
thing  more  can  be  said  of  it :  it  was  contingently  a  perfect  scheme,  and  if  the  currency  of  the 
country  had  not  been  broken  down,  it  would  have  sustained  the  manufacturing  interests,  and 
answered  all  the  purposes  of  the  country,  till  the  time  contemplated  by  its  terms  had  arrived 
for  revising  and  readjusting  the  tariff  regulations.  But,  so  long  as  the  country  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  Destructive  Dynasty,  properly  so  called,  the  contingent  prospects  of  the  Com 
promise  Act  were  of  course  unfavorable  for  an  ultimate  salutary  result.  Nothing  could  save 
the  country  in  such  hands. 

The  tariff  of  1842. 

For  want  of  space,  we  beg  leave  to  refer  to  our  Tracts  on  the  Currency  and  the'Tariff,  for 
what  we  should  otherwise  say  here.  As  Mr.  Clay  was  not  in  Congress  at  the  passage  of  the 
Tariff  of  1842,  and  has  had  little  to  say  on  public  affairs  since  his  retirement,  his  views  of 
this  measure  can  only  be  inferred  from  his  known  and  published  opinions.  There  may  be 
details  in  it  which  he  would  wish  to  modify;  but  it  was  framed  by  those  who  thought  it  profit 
able,  and  no  less  an  honor,  to  be  instructed  by  him,  and  who  desired  to  carry  out  his  policy. 
Its  salutary  effect  in  reviving  business  and  trade,  and  in  restoring  the  prosperity  of  the 
country,  is  all  the  praise  that  need  be  bestowed  upon  it.  We  refer  to  our  first  Tract,  THE 
TEST,  for  proofs  of  the  other  and  important  benefits  to  the  country,  in  the  way  of  retrench 
ment  and  reform,  effected  by  the  27th  (Whig)  Congress,  notwithstanding  the  foul  treason  against 
which  they  had  to  contend,  and  which  defeated  their  general  policy.  The  Tariff  alone  is  a 
compensation  for  the  struggle  and  revolution  of  1840,  though  the  country  has  been  most  per 
fidiously  robbed  of  its  just  rights  in  the  failure  of  other  important  measures.  Doubtless,  the 
-people  will  avenge  themselves  in  1844. 

The  history  of  Mr.  Clay's  policy  and  efforts  in  regard  to  protection. 

We  do  not  propose  to  give  this  history,  for  we  have  no  room,  but  only  to  say,  it  is  one  and 
the  same  from  beginning  to  end.  A  true  disciple  of  Jefferson  in  this  particular,  he  moved 
while  a  member  of  the  Kentucky  legislature,  that  each  member  should  clothe  himself,  from 
head  to  foot,  in  domestic  fabrics  ;  and  if  we  take  this  fact  as  the  germe  and  index  of  his  policy, 
through  life,  we  shall  not  greatly  err.  Mr.  Clay  was  never  an  ultra,  or  a  bigot ;  but  he  knew 
what  the  interests  of  the  country  required,  and  was  willing  to  set  an  impressive  example — 
not  that  he  would  exclude  imports,  injure  the  foreign  trade  of  the  country,  and  thereby  impair 
the  revenue ;  but  he  wished  to  see  the  country  truly  independent.  "  Our  complete  indepen 
dence,"  he  said  in  1820,  "  will  only  be  consummated  after  the  policy  of  this  bill  shall  be 
recognised  and  adopted."  This  bill,  as  we  have  seen,  was  lost. 

JL  retrospect  and  prospect. 

Hard,  painful,  perilous,  and  changful,  has  been  the  conflict  in  this  country  against  the  Des 
tructive  Dynasty ;  but  something  has  been  gained.  We  have  a  system  of  manufactures,  though 
imperfect,  and  a  host  of  thriving  mechanics  and  artisans,  and  they  have  done  enough  to  show 
what  can  be  done.  The  foundation  is  laid,  though  the  edifice  is  incomplete.  No  power,  we 
trust,  can  upset  this  beginning,  since  the  people  have  uiscovered  its  importance,  and  feel  it 

55 


more  and  more  every  day.  On  the  Cumberland  Road  stands  a  monument,  announcing  to  the 
world  and  future  generations,  who  battled  successfully  for  Internal  Improvement.  Not  one 
monument  alone,  but  tens,  hundreds  will  be  raised  throughout  the  land,  to  tell  the  world  and 
posterity,  who  was  the  father  of  the  "American  System" — who  the  successful  Defender  of  the 
rights  of  American  labor.  ^  .  ~* 

The  Missouri  question. 

All  know,  that  this  was  a  stern  trial  of  the  republic.  We  propose  to  notice  it  only  so  far 
as  it  is  connected  -with  Mr.  Clay,  whose  efforts  and  influence  hushed  the  tempest,  and  carried 
the  country  safely  through  it.  In  consequence  of  professional  occupation  at  home,  Mr.  Clay 
had  resigned  the  Speaker's  Chair  by  a  letter  at  the  opening  of  the  Session  of  1820-'2I,  and 
did  not  arrive  at  Washington  till  the  16th  of  January,  when  he  found  Congress  in  a  blaze  of 
excitement  on  the  Missouri  question.  All  eyes  were  turned  to  him.  After  sounding  the 
state  of  feeling,  he  moved,  on  the  2d  of  February,  and  carried  the  appointment  of  a  Committee 
of  thirteen,  upon  this  subject,  and  was  himself  made  Chairman.  On  the  10th,  he  reported  a 
Compromise,  which  was  rejected  by  a  small  majority  of  the  House,  after  repeated  trials.  He 
then  moved  for  a  joint  Committee  of  both  Houses,  which  was  carried,  and  acceded  to  by  the 
Senate,  the  result  of  which  was  a  report  in  effect  the  same  as  that  before  made  to  the  House, 
which  was  ratified  by  both  branches,  without  farther  controversy,  and  the  question  was  settled, 
on  condition  of  its  beins*  accepted  by  the  State  of  Missouri,  as  was  afterward  done. 

In  this  adjustment,  if  we  mistake  not,  the  principle  was  recognised,  that  in  States,  where 
slavery  has  existed  since  the  organization  of  our  Government,  the  question  of  its  abolition  or 
continuance,  shall  be  left  where  the  Federal  Constitution  has  Jeft  it,  viz.  in  the  sovereignty 
of  those  States,  and  that  this  rule  applied  to  Missouri,  as  having  been  received  into  the  (Jaion 
as  a  part  of  Louisiana.  The  compromise  acceded  to  by  Missouri,  was,  first,  the  suppression 
of  an  obnoxious  provision  in  her  Constitution,  designed  to  exclude  from  her  jurisdiction  free 
colored  people  of  other  States ;  and  next,  an  admission  to  the  freedom  of  the  Union,  in  her 
limits,  of  all  persons  recognised  as  citizens  of  other  States,  it  being  understood,  that  free  colored 
people  are  so  recognised  in  some  of  the  States. 

Mr.  Clay's  views  and  feelings,  as  an  emancipationist  of  the  old  school,  what  he  said  on  the 
floor  of  Congress,  and  his  advice  to  the  State  of  Missouri,  on  this  occasion,  have  been  noticed 
in  another  place. 

«  The  Great  Pacificator." 

In  Kentucky  Mr.  Clay  had  early  acquired  the  name  of"  the  Great  Commoner,"  the  people's 
man.  Protracted,  and  almost  hopeless  as  this  Missouri  controversy  had  become,  agitating  the 
whole  nation  from  the  outmost  verge  to  the  centre,  and  threatening  to  rend  in  pieces  the  fair 
frame  of  this  republic,  Mr.  Clay  had  scai'cely  been  at  the  seat  of  Government  over  a  month, 
before  it  was  settled,  and  settled  for  ever.  With  unanimous  voice,  and  simultaneously,  the 
whole  country  hailed  him  as  "  THE.  GREAT  PACIFICATOR."  Twice,  on  like  emergencies,  when 
all  hope  of  conciliation  appeared  to  be  abandoned,  has  he  stepped  in,  and  rescued  the  nation 
from  an  impending  civil  war.  The  attitude  of  South  Carolina,  in  1833,  with  the  torch  of 
nullification  in  her  hand,  was  even  more  formidable  than  this  firebrand  of  the  West.  For  one 
such  achievement,  by  words  of  peace  and  kindness,  a  loftier,  though  less  noisy  fame  is  earned, 
than  by  vanquishing  the  foes  of  the  country  in  the  battle  plain.  "  Blessed  are  the  peace 
makers."  He  who,  dispensing  with  brute  force,  marches  straight  into  the  hearts  of  men,  to 
conquer  them  there,  is  a  hero  of  the  highest  order.  The  Duke  of  Wellington  has  confessed, 
that  the  courage  of  the  field  is  physical.  This  is  moral  and  sublime.  It  demonstrates  a  tact 
in  swaying  men's  minds  for  purposes  of  good,  rarely  possessed. 

Mr.  Clay  in  the  Speaker's  Chair. 

Two  or  three  days  after  Mr.  Clay's  elevation  to  the  Speaker's  Chair,  for  the  fourth  time,  in 
1823,  the  following  lines  appeared  in  the  National  Intelligencer : — 

"  As  near  the  Potomac's  broad  stream,  t'other  day, 

Pair  LIBERTY  strolled,  in  solicitous  mood, 
Deep  pondering  the  future— unheeding-  her  way — 

She  met  goddess  NATURE  beside  a  green  wood. 
'  Good  mother,'  she  cried,  '  deign  to  help  me  at  need! 

I  must  make  for  my  guardians  a  Speaker  to-day; 
The  first  in  the  world  I  would  give  them.' — '  Indeed  ! 

When  /  made  the  first  Speaker,  I  made  him  of  CLAY  !'  " 

The  legislature  of  Kentucky,  and  the  House  of  Representatives  in  Congress,  seem  always 
to  have  had  this  good  advice  before  their  eyes,  while  "  THE  FIRST  IN  THE  WORLD"  was  among 
them.  The  captivating  amenity,  the  commanding  dignity,  the  exemplary  impartiality,  and  the 
fcseful  energy,  with  which  Mr.  Clay  discharged  the  laborious  and  responsible  duties  of  this 
station  for  BO  many  years — twelve  in  Congress— are  attested  by  all  parties. 

56 


Mr.  Clay's  indifference  to  the  allurements  of  place. 

As  under  Mr.  Madison,  so  also  under  Mr.  Monroe,  he  was  repeatedly  called  to  the  Cabinet, 
and  offered  a  carte  blanche  for  any  one  of  the  foreign  missions.  But  he  declined  them  all.  It 
can  not  be  denied,  that  the  post  he  occupied  in  Congress,  was  vastly  more  important,  and 
more  influential,  and  no  one  can  fail  to  commend  his  choice.  Mr.  Clay  had  his  whole  mind 
and  heart  bent  on  the  great  questions  of  the  time,  and  it  is  no  more  than  fair  to  allow,  that 
he  wanted  to  be  where  he  could  do  most  good  to  the  country.  In  that  place,  he  was  near  the 
people,  was  the  people's  man,  and  the  whole  country's  man.  With  the  mighty  interests  at 
stake  in  the  war,  with  the  questions  of  internal  improvement  and  the  Tariff  pending,  &c.,  &.C., 
how  could  a  man  of  his  known  temper  and  patriotism,  be  content  with  any  post,  however  ex 
alted  or  honorable,  but  that  of  legislation  ?  He  preferred  usefulness  to  place. 

Reception  of  Gen.  La  Fayette. 

The  re-visit  of  this  early  friend  and  self-sacrificing  champion  of  the  American  people,  who 
came  from  the  old  world  to  fight  for  and  with  them  in  the  new,  in  a  time  that  tried  men's 
souls,  was  most  grateful  to  the  people  of  this  country,  and  his  reception  in  the  Capitol  of  the 
Republic,  the  10th  of  December,  1824,  after  an  absence  of  nearly  half  a  century,  was  one  of 
peculiar  and  thrilling  interest.  It  fell  to  the  lot  of  Mr.  Clay,  as  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  to  tender  to  this  distinguished  guest  the  unfeigned  welcome  of  the  nation, 
and  to  do  the  honors  of  the  occasion.  We  need  not  say,  that  it  was  done  as  it  should  be. 
The  feeling  was  intense,  and  the  scene  sublime.  We  are  indebted  to  an  allusion  of  the 
speaker  on  the  occasion  for  the  inimitable  and  just  illustration,  that  it  was  not  unlike  the  re 
union  of  pure  spirits  in  an  after  state  of  existence,  to  recount  the  worthy  deeds  of  the  former, 
in  which  they  had  mutual  sufferings,  toils,  perils,  triumphs — and  in  the  end  a  glorious  tri 
umph. 

Mr.  Clay  and  General  Jackson. 

We  are  advised  by  Mr.  Clay  himself,  in  a  speech  in  Senate,  of  1838,  that  his  first  acquaint 
ance  with  General  Jackson,  was  m  the  fall  of  1815  or  1816,  and  mutually  agreeable.  In 
1819,  Mr.  Clay  thought  it  his  duty,  in  debate,  to  animadvert  with  freedom,  and  in  terms 
of  censure,  on  some  parts  of  General  Jackson's  conduct  in  the  Seminole  campaign,  relating  to 
the  execution  of  Arnbrister  and  Arbuthnot,  his  hostile  irruption  into  Florida  in  violation  of 
instructions  from  the  War  Department,  and  his  forcible  seizure  of  the  fortress  of  Pensacola, 
while  in  possession  of  a  Spanish  garrison.  This  was  of  course  displeasing,  and  interrupted 
their  friendship.  At  an  early  part  of  the  session  of  Congress  for  1824-5,  they  met  at  a  din 
ner  got  up  by  the  mutual  friends  of  both,  and  General  Jackson  took  Mr.  Clay  home  in  his 
carriage,  after  which  they  repeatedly  met  at  dinner,  till  the  election  of  Mr.  Adams  by  the 
House  of  Representatives,  which  was  the  end  of  their  social  intercourse. 

Mr.  Clay  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  in  1824 — the  result. 

The  votes  of  the  Electoral  Colleges  stood  thus  : — For  Andrew  Jackson,  99 ;  for  John 
Quincy  Adams,  84;  for  Wm.  H.  Crawford,  41 ;  for  Henry  Clay,  37.  Of  course,  by  a  rule 
of  the  Constitution,  the  three  candidates  having  the  largest  number  of  votes,  went  into  the 
House  of  Representatives,  in  Congress,  for  a  choice,  which  resulted  in  the  election  of  Mr. 
Adams. 

Mr.  Clay,  who  had  a  majority  of  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana  in  his  favor,  was  entitled  to 
the  Electoral  vote  of  that  State,  and  would  have  been  carried  over  Mr.  Crawford  into  the 
House,  if  the  choice  of  Electors  by  that  body  had  not  been  made  in  the  absence  of  two  or  three 
of  his  friends.  There  was  also  a  disgraceful  intrigue  in  the  control  of  the  Electoral  votes  of 
New  York,  the  detail  of  which  is  in  evidence  and  fully  substantiated,  which  violated  an  under 
standing  among  the  friends  of  the  respective  candidates,  and  robbed  Mr.  Clay  of  a  sufficient 
number  of  votes  to  have  carried  him  into  the  House.  So  that,  by  unfair  dealing,  Mr.  Clay 
failed  of  being  returned  to  the  House,  from  two  independent  sources,  either  of  which,  con 
ducted  in  good  faith,  would  have  made  him  President  of  the  United  States  in  1825 ;  for  it  is 
admitted,  that  he  would  have  been  elected,  if  he  had  gone  into  the  House  of  Representatives. 
The  consequences  to  the  country,  made  contingent  on  that  event,  have  been  truly  momentous ! 

Plurality — majority. 

Every  one  knows,  that  the  162  Electoral  votes  given  for  Messrs.  Adams,  Crawford,  and 
Clay,  were  for  either  of  these  men,  in  preference  to  General  Jackson,  and  consequently,  that 
the  majority  over  General  Jackson's  99  votes,  and  against  him,  was  63.  And  yet,  it  was 
most  U7t-democratically  maintained  at  the  time  and  afterward,  that  because  General  Jackson 
had  a  plurality  of  votes,  he  was  entitled  to  be  made  President  against  the  will  of  the  majority ! 

The  alleged  bargain. 

A  most  wicked  and  infamous  attempt  was  made,  while  the  election  of  President  was  pend 
ing  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  to  force  Mr.  Clay  into  the  support  of  General  Jackson* 

57 


10 

or  to  bar  his  freedom  of  action,  by  publishing  a  story?  that  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Clay  had 
made  a  bargain,  in  which  Mr.  Clay  was  to  support  Mr.  Adams  for  the  Presidency,  and  Mr. 
Adams  was  to  make  Mr.  Clay  Secretary  of  State.  The  absurdity  of  this  calumny  must 
instantly  strike  any  one,  who  regards  either  of  the  following  considerations  : — 1.  That  no 
office  would  be  refused  to  Mr.  Clay,  whichever  of  the  candidates  might  be  President,  whether 
we  consider  his  merits,  or  the  fact,  that  neither  could  be  elected  without  his  aid.  2.  That 
Mr.  Clay's  rejection  of  all  offices  under  Mr.  Madison  and  Mr.  Monroe,  was  sufficient  evi 
dence,  that  he  did  not  covet  such  honors,  and  would  not  take  them,  except  to  serve  the 
country.  3.  That  Mr.  Clay's  known  views  of  General  Jackson's  character  and  principles, — 
without  disparaging  his  merits  as  a  soldier — would  of  necessity  oblige  him  to  lend  his  influence 
in  another  direction.  4.  That,  having  ascertained  by  a  personal  visit,  that  Mr.  Crawford's 
state  of  health  forbade  all  hope  of  fitness  for  the  office  of  Chief  Magistrate,  Mr.  Clay  had  no 
choice.  And  5.  That  Mr.  Clay  had  repeatedly,  by  letter  and  conversation,  before  the  meeting 
of  Congress  and  afterward,  declared  his  purpose  to  support  Mr.  Adams.  Was  Mr.  Clay  a 
man  to  bargain  for  place — to  solicit  ? 

The  investigation. 

As  was  due  to  himself,  Mr.  Clay  demanded  of  the  House  a  Committee  of  investigation, 
and  Mr.  George  Kremer,  a  member  from  Pennsylvania,  was  compelled  to  father  the  deed. 
But  this  precious  morsel  was  too  important  to  those  who  had  got  it  up,  and  who  were  feeding 
the  nation  with  it,  to  allow  it  so  suddenly  to  be  snatched  from  them,  and  Mr.  Kremer  is 
instructed  to  back  out  from  the  Committee,, under  the  extraordinary  pretext,  that  he  did  not 
choose  to  be  forced  into  such  a  court,  either  as  accuser  or  witness !  A  libeller,  and  not  bound 
to  prove  it ! 

The  after  plot. 

It  was  foreseen,  that  nothing  was  more  probable,  than  that  Mr.  Clay  should  go  for  Mr. 
Adams,  and  nothing  more  probable  than  that  Mr.  Adams  should  desire  Mr.  Clay  to  be  Secre 
tary  of  State.  "Well  then,"  said  these  conspirators,  "  we  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  promul 
gate  it  as  a  bargain  to  defeat  General  Jackson ;  and  if  it  turns  out  so,  as  doubtless  it  will,  we 
shall  have  him  on  that  tack ;  or  if,  after  such  an  assault,  he  has  not  courage  enough  to  act 
the  free  man,  we  shall  have  gained  our  end  by  the  shortest  cut." 

With  that  indignant  scorn,  with  which  conscious  rectitude  looks  in  the  face  of  mean  artifice 
and  low  cunning,  Mr.  Clay  supported  Mr.  Adams,  as  he  had  declared  he  should,  and  then 
went  into  the  State  Department.  All  the  world  would  have  justified  him,  if  he  had  done  the 
latter  for  no  other  reason,  than  to  vindicate  his  rights  against  a  foul  conspiracy. 

But  a  little  more  than  two  years  afterward,  a  letter,  dated  March  8,  .1827,  written,  though 
not  signed,  by  Carter  Beverly,  of  Virginia,  appeared  in  the  newspapers,  stating,  on  the 
authority  of  General  Jackson,  that  Mr.  Clay's  friends  in  Congress  had  made  proposals  to 
General  Jackson,  to  support  him  in  the  House  of  Representatives  for  President,  if  he  (Gen. 
Jackson)  would  not  continue  Mr.  Adams  Secretary  of  State ;  in  other  words,  as  understood, 
if  he  would  make  Mr.  Clay  Secretary,  which  he  (General  Jackson)  had  indignantly  rejected. 

It  was  not  till  the  5th  of  June  (time  enough  to  hatch  up  the  mode  of  future  proceeding, 
and  time  enough  to  give  this  infamous  calumny  full  scope  of  action  on  the  public  mind)  that 
General  Jackson  could  be  induced,  although  solicited  by  Mr.  Beverly,  to  confirm  his  (Mr. 
Beverly's)  letter ;  and  then  he  shifted  the  responsibility  on  "  a  distinguished  member  of 
Congress,"  the  Hon.  James  Buchanan,  as  afterward  appeared.  But  Mr.  Buchanan,  having 
some  honesty  in  his  heart,  was  forced  to  throw  back  all  the  responsibility  on  his  master, 
entirely  acquitting  Mr.  Clay  and  his  friends,  and  got  out  of  the  scrape  as  well  as  he  could. 
Mr.  Beverly,  foreseeing  that  he  must  die,  and  being  troubled  in  his  conscience  on  account 
of  that  letter,  has  since,  in  another  document,  made  a  public  recantation,  so  that  this  deep- 
laid,  foul  conspiracy  is  now  fully  exposed.  That  the  parties  in  it  should  first  originate  such 
calumnies,  and  then  allow  them  to  float  so  long,  even  for  years,  over  the  broad  surface  of  the 
community,  poisoning  the  public  mind  against  a  man,  whose  pure  and  disinterested  patriotism, 
and  whose  unsullied  honor,  none  knew  better  than  the  calumniators  themselves,  can  only  be 
accounted  for  by  the  fact,  that  such  deep  depravity  was  necessary  to  their  ends. 

The  truth  of  the  case. 

The  truth  is,  that  the  advances  made  in  this  case,  were  from  the  other  side,  and  from  Gen. 
Jackson  himself,  towards  Mr.  Clay,  we  mean  not  in  unworthy  proposals,  but  with  a  manifest 
anxiety  to  obtain  Mr.  Clay's  support.  Mr.  Clay  retired  early  from  the  dinner,  of  which  we 
have  spoken  elsewhere,  and  was  about  to  step  into  his  own  carriage,  which  was  waiting  at 
Ihe  door,  when  he  was  followed  by  General  Jackson  and  Major  Eaton,  and  pressed  to  take 
a  seat  with  them,  with  which,  by  common  civility,  he  was  forced  to  comply.  And  this  polite 
ness  was  continued  till  the  election  in  the  House  took  place ;  and  the  worst  of  it  all  is,  that  it 
was  continued  while  the  plot  against  Mr.  Clay  was  hatching,  and  a  part  of  it  (Mr.  Kroner's) 
actually  opening  on  the  public. 

58 


11 

The  re-action. 

It  is  the  wise  economy  of  Providence,  that  great  offences  shall  have  a  great  atonement,  and 
that  innocence  under  a  cloud,  shall  come  out  under  the  blaze  of  noon.  It  was  a  cloud,  in 
deed,  and  a  dark  one,  which  the  enemies  of  Mr.  Clay  brought  over  his  head ;  and  although  it 
has  been  slow  in  departing,  the  day  will  be  so  much  brighter  and  longer.  Shielded  by  up 
rightness,  Mr.  Clay  has  always  been  too  lofty-minded  to  battle  with  calumny,  or  even  to  avail 
himself  of  disproof  or  confession,  except  as  urged  by  duty  to  his  friends  and  the  public ;  and 
when  reminded  by  a  voice  from  the  crowd,  during  his  speech  at  Lexington,  June  6,  1842,  of 
Mr.  Beverly's  recantation,  he  replied — "  /  want  no  testimony" — and  laying  his  hand  upon  his 
heart,  said — "  here — HERE — HERE  is  the  best  witness  of  my  innocence."  Mr.  Clay  may  be 
wrong  in  this,  and  ought,  doubtless,  to  consent  to  a  full  exposure  of  the  base  slanders,  by 
which  he  was  once  so  fiercely  assayed.  The  hearts  of  the  people  of  this  country  have  long 
been  returning,  and  are  still  returning  to  him,  so  far  as  they  have  been  alienated,  like  the 
ocean  tide  that  rolls  up  on  the  bosom  of  the  shore,  with  this  difference : — there  will  be  BO 
ebbing  of  the  waters. 

Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Randolph. 

All  are  acquainted  with  the  eccentricities  of  John  Randolph,  and  with  the  facts,  that  he 
hud  no  great  liking  for  Mr.  Clay,  and  that  he  was  wont  to  rebel  against  Mr.  Clay's  discipline, 
as  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  It  is,  however,  recorded,  to  his  credit,  that  in 
1833,,  while  passing  through  Washington  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  died  soon  after,  —  he 
requested  to  be  carried  up  to  the  Senate  Chamber,  although  too  weak  to  walk,  or  stand.  He 
had  not  been  there  long,  before  Mr.  Clay  rose  to  speak  in  debate.  "  Help  me  up,  help  me 
up,"  said  Mr.  Randolph  to  a  friend  that  stood  by  him — "  I  came  here  to  hear  that  voice." 
When  Mr.  Clay  had  finished,  he  came  and  spoke  with  Mr.  Randolph.  They  shook  hands, 
and  parted  in  a  spirit  of  mutual  good  will.  It  was  the  last  time  they  ever  met. 

Mr.  Adams'  Administration — Mr.  Clay  as  Secretary  of  State. 

The  grounds  of  opposition  to  Mr.  Adams'  Administration,  or  rather  the  reasons  alleged, 
which  occasioned  his  defeat  in  1828,  have  long  since  been  exploded,  though  too  late  to  save 
the  country  from  a  long  and  sad  history  of  misfortune.  The  reasons  were  generally  about  as 
valid,  as  the  calumnies  against  Mr.  Clay.  Never  in  our  history  have  we  had  a  better  or  more 
patriotic  Administration,  and  never  was  the  country  equally  prosperous.  History  will  do  it 
justice,  and  even  the  people  are  already  inclined  to  do  so.  They  now  behold  in  Mr.  Adams 
an  American  patriarch  of  transcendant  virtue,  and  transcendant  powers,  rising  in  reputation 
and  glory,  as  he  descends  to  the  place  of  his  fathers.  Like  the  trees  of  a  tropical  climate,  he 
has  blossomed  and  borne  fruit  twice,  before  his  summer  has  ended. 

The  Administration  of  the  State  Department  by  Mr.  Clay,  was  alike  honorable  to  himself 
and  beneficial  to  the  country.  The  Panama  Mission  was  under  his  guidance,  in  which  he 
was  peculiarly  at  home  as  the  advocate  of  the  South  American  States ;  his  attempt  to  gain  the 
favorable  interposition  of  Russia  in  behalf  of  those  States,  reflects  not  less  honor  on  his  heart, 
than  his  head ;  and  more  treaties  were  negotiated  by  him,  than  by  all  his  predecessors  from 
the  foundation  of  the  Government.  The  reputation  of  Mr.  Clay  in  foreign  parts,  gave  him 
eminent  facilities  in  the  management  of  our  foreign  affairs,  and  they  were  used  with  a  true 
American  spirit,  as  just  as  patriotic.  It  was  a  time  of  general  peace,  and  therefore  no  great 
and  stirring  questions  were  then  in  agitation.  "  Who,"  said  Mr.  Adams,  after  his  retirement, 
"  could  select  a  man,  whom,  for  his  pre-eminent  talents,  for  his  splendid  services,  for  his 
ardent  patriotism,  for  his  all-ernbracing  public  spirit,  for  his  fervid  eloquence  in  behalf  of  tke 
rights  and  liberties  of  mankind,  and  for  his  long  experience  in  the  affairs  of  the  Union, 
foreign  and  domestic,  a  President  of  the  United  States,  intent  only  on  the  honor  and  welfare 
of  his  country,  ought  to  have  preferred  to  HENRY  CLAY?" 

Good  humor. 

On  Mr.  Clay's  return  to  Kentucky,  after  the  inauguration  of  General  Jackson,  in  the  spring 
of  1829,  he  found  the  roads  extremely  bad,  and  to  avoid  the  thumps  and  knocks  of  the  inside 
of  the  stage,  he  turned  his  back  upon  his  fellow  passengers,  and  took  a  seat  with  the  driver 
on  the  box,  when  they  were  a  few  miles  east  of  Uniontown,  Pa.  The  citizens  of  that  place, 
being  on  the  look  out  for  the  arrival  of  the  Ex-Secretary  of  State,  stood  in  crowds  to  welcome 
him,  as  the  stage  drove  up.  "  Gentlemen,"  said  Mr.  Clay,  before  he  got  down,  "you  see  I 
am  among  the  OUTS,  but  I  can  assure  you,  that  the  INS  behind  me  have  a  far  worse  time 
of  it." 

Mr.  Clay's  good  humor  never  forsakes  him.  It  seems  impossible  for  him  to  resist  tempta 
tions  for  repartee,  in  which  he  is  most  skilful,  or  for  original  pleasantries  of  which  he  is  most 
prolific,  or  for  sallies  of  wit  in  which  he  is  most  happy. "  His  buoyant,  lofty,  and  ever-active 
mind,  seems  to  be  relieved  by  such  playfulness.  Or  is  this  the  mode  by  which  superior  and 
jjiore  vigorous  intellects  can  more  easily  come  down  to  a  common  level,  and  commuae  with 

59 


12 

ordinary  minds  ?  We  observe,  that  this  propensity  is  usually  allied  to  benevolence.  Cer 
tainly,  whether  so  or  not,  its  effect  is  to  relieve  the  tedium  of  the  dull  facts  of  life,  and  to- 
promote  the  happiness  of  social  intercourse. 

Three  thousand  at  one  table. 

On  the  16th  of  May,  1829,  after  Mr.  Clay's  retirement,  he  sat  down  to  a  public  dinner, 
in  Fowler's  garden,  Lexington,  given  in  honor  of  him,  with  three  thousand  of  his  "  old  friends 
and  neighbors" !  It  was  then  he  said  : — "  When  I  felt  as  if  I  should  sink  beneath  the  storm  of 
abuse  and  detraction,  which  was  violently  raging  around  me,  I  felt  myself  upheld  and  sustained 
by  your  encouraging  voice  and  your  approving  smiles.  I  have  doubtless  committed  many 
faults  and  indiscretions,  over  which  you  have  thrown  the  broad  mantle  of  your  charity."  Such 
communion  with  "  old  friends  and  neighbors"  is  not  bougnt  by  kings ;  it  is  the  free  gift  of  a 
generous  people  to  a  faithful  public  servant — the  reward  of  patriotic  effort  in  the  service  of 
freemen — himself  one  of  them.  Never  unmindful  of  this  generous  confidence,  so  early 
bestowed,  and  so  unremittingly  maintained  for  a  long  course  of  years,  Mr.  Clay  could  not 
overlook  them  in  his  farewell  speech  to  the  Senate,  the  last  of  March,  1842.  After  having 
endeavored  to  express  his  obligations  to  the  Senate,  to  the  country,  to  all  his  friends 
'*  throughout  this  continent,'"'  he  added  : — "  What  shall  I  say — what  can  I  say  at  all  commen 
surate  with  those  feelings  of  gratitude  which  I  owe  to  the  State,  whose  humble  representative 
and  servant  I  have  been  in  this  chamber  ?"  [Here  Mr.  Clay's  voice  faltered  under  the 
struggle  of  his  emotions.]  "  In  the  darkest  hour  of  calumny  and  detraction,  when  I  seemed  to 
be  forsaken  by  all  the  rest  of  the  world,  she  threw  her  broad  and  impenetrable  shield  around 
me,  and  bearing  me  up  aloft  in  her  courageous  arms,  repelled  the  poisoned  shafts  that  were 
aimed  at  my  destruction,  and  vindicated  my  good  name  against  every  false  and  unfounded 
assault." 

"  Bearing  me  up  aloft  in  her  courageous  arms,"  said  Mr.  Clay,  lifting  and  extending  his 
own  arms,  and  raising  his  voice,  which  trembled  and  broke  with  emotion,  as  he  said  it.  We 
heard  it.  And  he  who  heard  it,  will  not  soon  forget  the  manner.  — "  Rcpelkd,"  said  Mr. 
Clay,  with  a  corresponding  expression  of  gesture,  which  told  the  triumphant  vindication  he 
experienced  in  that  hour,  from  such  defenders. 

He  met  them  again,  face  to  face,  in  1842,  when  the  same  scene  was  re-enacted,  in  the 
presence  of  tens  of  thousands,  with  additional  interest,  arising  from  the  circumstances  of  the 
present,  the  history  of  the  past,  and  the  prospect  of  the  future. 

Mr.  Clay's  re-election  to  the  Senate  in  1831. 

We  are  forced  to  go  backward  and  forward,  for  the  sake  of  putting  like  things  under  the| 
same  head,  though  far  apart  in  time.  Never  were  the  services  of  Mr.  Clay  more  required, ; 
in  defence  of  American  labor  and  enterprise,  than  on  his  return  to  the  Senate  in  1831,  in! 
which  branch  of  Congress  he  had  not  had  a  seat  since  1811.  The  faithlessness  of  the  then 
existing  Administration  to  the  best  interests  of  the  country,  and  their  insidious  attempts  to 
break  down  the  tariff  regulations  of  1824  and  1828,  were  but  too  apparent.  Mr.  Clay  was 
the  only  man  equal  to  the  crisis,  and  even  he,  as  we  have  before  noticed,  was  only  able  to 
save  the  tariff  from  immediate  and  entire  demolition  by  a  Compromise. 

Mr.  Clay's  second  nomination  to  the  Presidency. 

It  was  made  by  the  National  Republican  Convention,  at  Baltimore,  the  12th  of  December, 
1831,  and  the  Hon.  John  Sargeant  was  nominated  for  Vice  President.  Mr.  John  Floyd,  of 
Virginia,  and  the  Hon.  Wm.  Wirt  were  also  in  the  field  for  1832.  But  the  action  of  those 
opposed  to  the  Jackson  dynasty,  in  this  campaign,  was  rather  to  keep  up  the  organization, 
than  with  any  expectation  of  success.  It  was  manifest  that  the  people  had  not  even  begun 
to  recover  from  the  infatuation  of  the  time,  and  from  the  poison  that  had  been  infused  into  their 
minds  by  the  calumniators  of  Mr.  Clay.  Although  Mr.  Clay  is  ever  a  candidate  for  the 
Presidency  in  the  hearts  of  his  friends,  he  has  never  been  put  in  nomination,  and  never  been 
in  the  field,  but  twice,  viz.,  in  1824,  when  he  was  cheated  out  of  it,  as  we  have  shown,  and 
for  the  campaign  of  1832,  when  no  one  expected  any  other  result  than  the  success  of  General 
Jackson.  In  1836  he  declined  a  nomination,  that  was  tendered. 

"  /  would  rather  be  right,  than  be  President." 

So  said  Mr.  Clay  to  the  Hon.  Wm.  C.  Preston,  in  a  private  interview,  as  certified  by  the 
latter.  If  for  many  years,  when  truth  and  fairness  could  not  prevail,  such  a  resolution  did 
him  no  good,  it  is  nevertheless  true,  that,  in  the  end,  honesty  is  the  best  policy.  Where,  in 
the  history  of  political  society,  has  such  firmness  in  the  right,  against  such  obstacles  and  such 
assailants,  been  maintained  so  long,  so  unswervingly,  so  heroically  ?  Long  time  were  the 
doctrines  and  policy  advocated  by  Mr.  Clay  injurious  to  him  politically ;  and  he  knew,  and  all 
knew,  it  would  be  BO.  But  who  ever  saw  him  trim  ?  Who  ever  accused  him  of  a  want  of 
frankncM? 

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The,  public  domain. 

We  need  not  say  how  much  the  country  owes  to  Mr.  Clay  for  his  course  on  this  subject; 
though  it  may  be  proper  to  state,  what  is  not  generally  thought  of,  that  the  public  lands 
would  have  been  for  ever  wrested  from  the  rightful  owners,  but  for  him.  It  is  also  proper  to 
notice  the  fact,  that  this  question  would  have  been  finally  and  fairly  settled  in  1833,  but  for  a 
fraud  on  the  people,  by  subverting  the  operation  of  the  Constitution.  The  bill  passed  by  a 
majority  of  24  to  20  in  the  Senate,  and  of  96  to  40  in  the  House.  Such  was  the  feeling  in 
Congress  on  this  subject,  it  was  never  doubted,  that  it  would  have  passed  by  a  vote  of  two 
thirds  in  both  houses,  and  thus  become  a  laxv,  even  under  the  veto,  if  it  had  been  returned  in 
season  for  action.  To  have  had  it  thias  returned,  was  undoubtedly  the  constitutional  right  of 
the  legislative  branch  of  the  Government.  But  advantage  was  taken  of  the  adjournment  of 
Congress  before  the  ten  days  after  it  was  sent  to  the  President  had  expired,  and  he  kept  if 
over  to  the  next  session,  thus  defeating  the  will  of  the  nation. 

Again,  in  1836,  a  land  distribution  bill  was  carried  through  the  Senate  by  Mr.  day,  in  9 
vote  of  25  to  20,  and  though  approved  of  by  a  majority  of  the  House,  it  was  nevertheless 
defeated  there  by  the  influence  of  the  Executive.  In  J842  it  was  killed  by  a  Veto  of  Johu 
Tyler.  In  all  these  ways,  and  for  so  long  time,  not  only  on  this,  but  on  sundry  other 
momentously  important  measures,  has  the  will  of  the  nation  been  thwarted  by  the  One  Man 
power.  This  great  measure  of  Mr.  Clay,  by  which  he  has  stood  so  long  and  so  constantly, 
has  never  failed  to  have  with  it  a  majority  of  the  people. 

So  anxious  was  Mr.  Clay  that  this  bill  should  escape  the  veto  power  in  1833,  and  so  self- 
sacrificing  his  spirit  for  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  good  of  the  country,  that  in  the  fervor  of 
his  zeal  in  debate,  he  turned  and  said  to  his  colleague,  Mr.  Grundy,  the  friend  of  the  Presi 
dent,  "  Tell  General  Jackson,  if  he  will  sign  this  bill,  I  will  pledge  myself  to  retire  from 
Congress,  and  never  enter  into  public  life  again.  " 

The  United  States  Sank. 

Although  the  fundamental  and  vital  principle  of  democracy,  the  will  of  the  people,  as  ex 
pressed  by  their  representative  organs,  was  violated  by  General  Jackson's  veto  of  the  bank 
>ill  in  1832,  nevertheless,  as  the  act  was  authorized  by  the  Constitution,  it  does  not  compare 
with  the  flagrant  criminality  of  the  removal  of  the  deposites.  The  President  himself,  in  a 
aaessage  to  Congress,  proposed  to  enlarge  the  powers  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  with 
view  to  this  object,  thereby  recognising  the  sound  doctrine,  that  it  could  not  otherwise  be 
one,  as  the  Constitution  had  made  Congress  the  keeper  and  given  that  body  the  control  of 
Jie  public  funds.  The  House  of  Representatives  answered  the  message  by  a  vote  of  109  to 
46  against  the  proposal,  which  was  decisive  so  far  as  the  authority  of  the  Constitution  could 
go.  But,  lo !  General  Jackson  walks  straight  over  this  vote,  and  over  the  Constitution,  and 
removes  the  deposites,  in  the  face  of  both !  It  was  impossible  for  Mr.  Clay,  as  a  public 
guardian  of  the  Constitution  and  the  rights  of  the  people,  to  be  silent  on  these  occasions,  so 
painful  to  the  heart  of  the  true  patriot.  Uniformly,  therefore,  and  frequently  has  he  stood 
up  to  denounce  these  abuses  of  the  Veto  power,  and  these  infractions  of  the  Constitution. 
The  Resolutions  of  the  Senate  on  the  removal  of  the  deposites,  though  "  Expunged"  by  a 
subsequent  resolution  of  the  same  body,  are  only  made  more  conspicuous  by  the  latter  act, 
and  will  hand  the  true  story  down  to  posterity. 

Mr.  Clay's  Policy  in  regard  to  a  national  bank. 

All  know  that  Mr.  Clay  is  in  favor  of  such  an  institution ;  but  it  is  not  without  reference 
to  the  will  of  the  people,  that  he  would  propose  one.  When  the  Sub-treasury  was  under  debate, 
in  1836,  he  said  in  the  Senate,  "  If  a  national  bank  should  be  established,  its  stability  and 
utility  will  depend  upon  the  general  conviction  that  is  felt  for  its  necessity.  Jlnd  until  such  a. 
conviction  is  deeply  impressed  ujxxn.  the  people,  and  clearly  manifested  by  them,,  it  would,  in  my 
judgment,  be  unwise  even  to  PROPOSE  a  bank."  When  Senator  Wright,  the  same  year,  in 
answer  to  petitions  for  a  bank,  offered  a  resolution,  "  that  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners  ought 
not  to  be  granted,"  Mr.  Clay  moved  the  following  substitute,  «  That  it  will  be  expedient  to 
establish  a  bank  of  the  United  States,  whenever  it  sJiall  be  manifest,  that  a  clear  majority  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States  desire  such  an  institution,''''  which  was  negatived,  and  Mr.  Wright's 
was  adopted.  That  is,  it  was  resolved,  that  a  clear  majority  should  NOT  rule  !  In  1842,  Mr. 
Clay  put  forward,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Jacob  Stratton,  Secretary  of  the  National  Clay  Club,  at 
Philadelphia,  a  summary  of  principles  of  public  policy,  as  held  by  him,  the  first  of  which  is, 
*'  A  sound  national  currency,  regulated  by  the  will  and  authority  of  the  people.}> 

General  Jackson's  meditated  war  with  France. 

The  first  instalment  of  the  indemnity  of  25,000,000  of  francs,  nearly  $5,000,000,  as  nego 
tiated  in  the  treaty  of  1831,  for  French  spoliations  on  our  commerce  from  1800  to  1815,  was 
not  paid  by  reason  of  the  refusal  of  the  French  Chambers  to  make  an  appropriation ;  but  the 
King  and  his  ministry  desked  to  pay.  As  our  Executive  only  had  to  do  with  the  Executive 

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of  France  in  this  matter,  there  was  no  difference  between  them,  and  some  courtesy  was  dne 
to  the  King  of  the  French  in  his  inability.  But  General  Jackson,  in  his  message  of  Decem 
ber,  1834,  recommended  a  law,  authorizing  reprisals,  in  case  the  French  Chambers  should  not 
ps  ovide  for  the  debt  during  the  then  approaching  session.  That  this  menacing  attitude  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States  should  deeply  wound  the  King  of  the  French,  and  exasperate 
the  French  Chambers,  and  the  nation,  is  not  strange.  Louis  Philippe  recalled  his  minister 
from  Washington,  tendered  passports  to  our  minister  at  Paris,  and  we  were  at  once  on  the 
eve  of  war,  when  Mr.  Clay  brought  in  his  celebrated  "  French  Report,"  on  the  6th  of  Jan. 
1835,  the  result  of  which,  in  connexion  with  a  corresponding  resolution  of  the  Senate,  was 
the  restoration  of  good  feeling  and  the  payment  of  the  debt,  while  the  honor  of  our  country 
was  maintained.  This  third  lime  was  the  nation  saved  from  the  horrors  and  calamities  of 
war  by  Henry  Clay.  So  bent  was  General  Jackson  on  a  fight  with  France,  that  he  stayed  at 
the  Capitol  till  12  o'clock  the  last  night  of  the  Session,  urging  an  appropriation  that  would 
put  the  business  in  his  own  hands. 

Mr.  Clay  in  the  Twenty-seventh  Congress. 

What  that  Congress  did,  has  been  shown  in  our  first  tract,  THE  TEST  ;  what  they  could  not 
do,  by  reason  of  treachery,  everybody  knows  already.  The  Chief  that  was  set  up  by  the 
people,  had  been  stricken  down  by  the  hand  of  the  Almighty,  and  in  his  place  came  one, 
second  only,  in  the  violations  of  trust,  to  him  who  sold  his  Lord  and  Master  for  thirty  pieces 
of  silver. 

But  Mr.  Clay,  schooled  in  the  misfortunes  of  his  country,  and  never  despairing  of  the  re 
public,  stood  erect  in  the  common  disappointment,  and  witnessed  the  complete  redemption  of 
the  country  deferred  again  by  an  inscrutable  Providence.  Shoulder  to  shoulder  with  his 
political  associates,  himself  leader,  he  fought  through  the  Extra-Session  for  the  principles  and 
measures  he  had  contended  for  through  life,  and  though  he  had  wished  and  purposed  to  retire 
from  the  councils  of  the  nation  at  an  earlier  date,  he  yielded  to  the  claims  of  duty,  in  this 
unexpected  exigency  of  public  affairs,  to  attend  the  next  Session.  Failing  of  the  measures 
which  the  country  waited  for,  and  had  a  right  to  expect,  Mr.  Clay  embraced  this  last  oppor 
tunity  to  propose  some  amendments  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  to  bring 
forward  his  views,  in  the  form  of  sundry  resolutions  offered  to  the  Senate,  as  to  the  policy 
and  measures  required  in  the  present  state  of  the  country.  Each  of  these  resolutions,  eleven 
in  number,  was  discussed  at  large  by  him  the  1st  of  March,  1842.  They  regarded  chiefly  the 
revenue  and  financial  policy  of  the  Government,  the  disposal  of  the  public  domain,  retrench 
ment  and  reform  in  the  different  branches  of  the  public  service,  and  proposed  to  require  of  the 
Heads  of  the  Departments  detailed  reports  on  these  several  modes  of  reform,  preparatory  to 
legislative  action. 

The  amendments  of  the  Constitution  proposed,  were :  1.  To  restrict  and  limit  the  Veto 
power.  2.  To  secure  to  Congress  the  control  of  the  Treasury,  by  vesting  in  that  body  the 
appointment  of  the  Secretary.  And  3.  To  prohibit  the  President  from  appointing  members 
of  Congress  to  office,  during  the  term  for  which  they  are  elected. 

Having  at  the  Extra  Session  given  his  aid  for  the  repeal  of  the  Sub-treasury,  and  labored  in 
vain  to  re-establish  a  sound  national  currency  system,  and  having  finally  at  the  Session  of 
1841-2,  propounded  a  system  of  national  policy  in  the  resolutions  above  referred  to,  together 
with  the  aforesaid  amendments  of  the  Constitution,  he  bade  farewell  to  the  Senate  on  the 
31st  of  March,  and  retired  to  private  life. 

jtfr.  Clay's  Speeches. 

In  the  speeches  of  Mr.  Clay  will  be  recognised  the  intellectual  and  moral  stamp  of  this 
great  American  Statesman.  There  will  be  found,  in  his  own  peculiar  diction,  (wanting,  in 
deed,  the  charm  of  his  manner,')  his  American  system,  with  the  facts  and  reasons,  by  which  he 
so  ably  set  it  forth,  and  so  triumphantly  defended  it ;  his  general  views  of  national  policy,  as 
well  as  his  views  of  particular  questions ;  and  most,  of  the  things  that  have  made  him  so 
eminent  and  surpassingly  influential  in  human  society.  Hundreds  of  his  speeches,  and  some 
of  his  most  brilliant  efforts,  have  been  lost,  for  want  of  a  hand  to  record  them  at  the  time  of 
•atterance. 

[A  cheap  collection  of  his  most  important  speeches,  as  they  bear  on  the  public  interests  of  the  country, 
well  chosen,  and  well  edited,  from  the  most  approved  copies,  in  two  volumes,  with  a  memoir  of  his  life  pre 
fixed,  has  been  published  by  Greeley  &  McElrath,  Tribune  Office,  New  York,  price  one  dollar,  which,  we  are 
happy  to  observe,  is  in  great  demand  from  all  parts  of  the  Union,  and  going  off  by  hundreds  and  thousands 
It  is  an  auspicious  evidence  of  a  growing  appetite  in  the  public  mind  for  the  food  to  be  derived  from  such 
a  source.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  library  of  the  political  history  of  our  country,  which  every  American  citizen 
should  have  within  his  reach.] 

Mr.  Clay  an  American. 

Although  born  in  Virginia,  and  adopted  by  Kentucky,  however  proud  of  him  they  may  be, 
he  does  not  belong  to  them,  be  it  known ;  but  he  is  the  property  of  the  whole  country,  to 
which  he  has  devoted  the  labors  of  his  life.  From  the  character  of  his  mind,  and  the  influence 

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of  his  position,  it  is  morally  impossible  that  he  should  be  infected  with  sectional  prejudice. 
His  heart,  his  soul  is  American — all  American — and  he  belongs  to  the  Union.  Can  another 
individual  be  found  among  us  so  entirely  the  property  of  the  American  people  ? 

Duelling — games  at  cards. 

In  early  life,  Mr.  Clay  was  a  plural  number  of  times  engaged  in  «  affairs  of  honor,"  and 
twice  came  to  an  encounter,  first  with  Mr.  Humphry  Marshall,  of  Kentucky,  growing  out  of 
Mr.  Clay's  motion  for  the  members  of  the  Kentucky  legislature  to  clothe  themselves  in  do 
mestic  fabrics — not  a  bad  cause,  though  a  bad  result;  and  next,  with  Mr.  Randolph.  But 
Mr.  Clay  is  now  an  aw£i-duellist,  if  we  understand  him.  "  I  owe  it  to  the  community  to  say," 
he  publicly  observed  in  later  years,  "  that  no  man  holds  in  deeper  abhorrence  than  I  do,  that 
pernicious  practice.  Its  true  corrective  will  be  found,  when  all  shall  unite,  as  all  ought  to 
unite,  in  its  unqualified  proscription." 

In  1819,  when  invited  to  a  game  of'bragg,"  he  replied,  "Excuse  me,  gentlemen.  I  have 
not  played  a  game  of  hazard  for  more  than  twelve  years,  and  I  take  this  opportunity  to  warn 
you  all  to  avoid  a  practice  destructive  of  a  good  name,  and  drawing  after  it  evil  consequences 
of  incalculable  magnitude." 

Mr.  Clay's  private  fortune. 

Sometime  previous  to  1820,  Mr.  Clay  suffered  deeply  by  suretyship,  and  was  obliged  to  be 
absent  from  Congress  two  or  three  years,  to  get  his  affairs  righted  in  the  practice  of  his  pro 
fession.  No  man  has  sacrificed  more  to  his  country  in  a  pecuniary  point  of  view,  than  Mr. 
Clay.  As  no  lawyer  ever  had  better  chances,  he  might  have  acquired  one  of  the  largest 
fortunes  in  the  Union,  if,  instead  of  devoting  his  life  to  the  public,  he  had  spent  it  in  his  pro 
fession.  Mr.  Clay  is  frugal  in  his  habits,  though  not  parsimonious.  "  Here  is  a  hundred 
dollars,"  said  Mr.  Clay  to  a  young  man,  handing  it  over  to  him,  when  he  came  to  consult  him 
for  the  recovery  of  an  estate  that  belonged  to  him  by  rightful  inheritance.  "  Take  this,"  said 
Mr.  Clay,  "  and  when  you  want  more,  call  on  me."  This  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  man. 
Notwithstanding  this  liberality  of  disposition,  Mr.  Clay  has  saved  a  comfortable  and  unem 
barrassed  estate. 

The  person  of  Mr.  Clay — Ids  manners — eloquence. 

Mr.  Clay  is  tall,  and  slenderly,  but  tightly  built,  light-haired,  and  blue-eyed.  He  is  accused 
by  phrenologists  of  eagle-eyed  perception.  They  aver,  that  he  observes  all,  and  sees  through 
all,  and  is  apt  to  hit  game,  when  he  fires.  Some  one  has  also  suggested,  that  his  mother  a 
long  time  ago  gave  him  a  "  mellow — mellow  horn"  to  wind.  Certain  it  is,  if  it  was  not  nat 
urally,  musical,  and  of  surprising  compass,  he  has  made  it  so  by  practice.  It  has  thundered 
deep  tones,  piped  shrill  notes,  and  performed  all  manner  of  musical  functions  between  these 
extremes.  Though  it  may  be  a  little  worse  for  wear,  it  is  good  yet,  and  preferred  to  all 
others. 

Mr.  Clay  has  grace,  dignity,  and  command — the  first  to  charm,  the  second  to  beget  respect, 
and  the  third  to  excite  awe.  Mix  them  all  together,  and  they  make  a  very  perfect  man. 

As  to  his  eloquence,  it  must  have  been  matchless  in  his  youth,  judging  from  its  effects.  The 
courts,  juries,  and  legislature  of  Kentucky,  popular  assemblies  there  and  elsewhere,  and  both 
houses  of  Congress,  have  successively,  for  nearly  half  a  century,  been  swayed  by  him. 

Mr.  Clay  the  candidate  of  the  people  for  the  Presidency  in  1844. 

We  have  never  yet  seen  the  Whig  man  that  could  make  up  his  mouth  to  say  otherwise. 
The  simultaneous  rush  of  the  Whig  press,  of  Whig  conventions,  of  Whig  assemblies,  formal 
and  informal,  of  nineteen  twentieths,  if  not  ninety-nine  hundredths  of  the  Whig  party  through 
out  the  Union,  to  put  forward  the  name  of  Henry  Clay  for  1844,  after  the  faithlessness  of 
the  Acting  President  was  placed  beyond  question,  is  a  most  extraordinary  fact;  and  the 
constantly  augmenting  power  of  this  general  feeling,  is  another  remarkable  fact.  The 
suggestion,  that  it  was  unseasonable,  can  not  well  be  sustained.  It  was  an  extraordinary, 
unparalleled  position  of  the  public  mind.  All  confidence  in  the  unfortunate  choice  that  had 
been  made  of  the  second  on  the  ticket  of  1840,  who,  by  a  melancholy  event  of  Providence, 
succeeded  as  .principal,  was  lost.  The  great  and  victorious  party  of  18-10,  was  without  a 
chief,  and  temporarily  doomed  to  a  most  vexatious  overthrow  of  their  hopes.  If  they  could 
not  rally  without  delay,  and  concentrate  their  affections  somewhere,  they  would  be  scattered 
to  the  winds.  So  far  from  being  unseasonable,  it  was  a  necessity.  It  was  the  irresistible 
action  of  the  instincts  of  self-preservation.  And  where  else  should  they — could  they  go  ? 
Wait  they  must,  but  not  to  know  what  they  might  hope  for  in  the  end,  was  like  the  agony  of 
final  dissolution — like  the  winding-sheet  of  despair. 

Most  fortunately,  fortunate  beyond  all  example  in  such  a  case,  there  was  a  man  not  un 
known  to  fame — a  man  whom  they  would  and  should  have  had  before — a  tried  and  faithful 
man — a  man  equal  to  any  and  all  emergencies,  as  proved  by  almost  every  variety  of  public 
service  for  forty  years — who  never  faltered  or  made  a  mistake  in  the  great  exigencies  of  tba 

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nation — who  filled  the  eye  of  the  great  world,  and  for  whom  the  world  cherished  a  profound  regard 
— a  man  equally  respected  at  home  and  abroad — and  whose  high  endowments  and  rare  gifts  seemed 
to  have  been  made  and  modelled  for  the  occasion.  Upon  him,  without  pause,  and  With  unexam 
pled  unanimity,  they  fixed  their  eyes  and  their  hopes.  A  more  settled,  or  more  determined  pur 
pose  has  rarely,  if  ever  characterized  a  state  of  the  public  mind.  As  well  might  you  turn  back  th« 
rivers,  or  roll  back  the  tides  of  the  ocean,  as  to  oppose  these  accumulating  forces. 

Gratitude — Ingratitude. 

If  there  has  been  occasion  for  the  saying,  that  "  republics  are  ungrateful,"  we  do  not  yet  con 
sent  that  the  libel  describes  the  American  people.  It  was  gratitude  that  led  the  people  of  this 
country  into  one  of  the  greatest  mistakes  they  ever  committed.  General  Jackson  did  us  great, 
eminent,  heroic  service,  as  a,  soldier.  Not  to  confess  it,  would  indeed  be  ungrateful.  And  military 
achievements  are  always  attractive,  imposing,  and  captivating,  with  a  susceptible  and  generous 
people.  But  the  very  qualities  which  made  Andrew  Jackson  a  great  general,  unfitted  him  to  guide 
the  helm  of  State.  That  strong  and  unbending  will,  which  is  the  best  qualification  to  lead  an 
army,  is  the  worst  possible  to  preside  over  a  true  democracy,  where  the  will  of  all  is  to  be  consulted ; 
that  despotic  authority  which  is  necessary  in  the  field,  is  most  unsuitable  in  the  Chief  Magistrate 
of  a  free  people  ;  and  that  impetuosity  which  bears  down  a  foe,  in  the  onset  of  battle,  will  carry 
away  the  pillars  of  a  republic.  Here  is  the  secret  of  the  misfortunes  of  our  country  in  having  cho 
sen  for  President  such  a  man  as  Andrew  Jackson.  But  it  was  gratitude  that  made  him  President. 

While  General  Jackson  was  the  military  idol  of  the  nation,  Mr.  Clay  was  borne  down  by  the 
calumnies  already  noticed — calumnies  which,  for  a  long  period,  poisoned  the  public  mind,  but  which 
have  since  been  driven  and  chiefly  eradicated  from  the  field  they  occupied.  He  now  stands  before 
the  whole  country  a  patriot  as  spotless  as  he  is  disinterested,  having  the  advantage,  not  only  of  all 
his  recognised  merits,  but  of  a  man,  who,  emerging  from  a  dark  cloud  of  aspersion,  justified  by  the 
certificate  of  his  foes,  and  ennobled  by  the  dignity  of  his  bearing  while  suffering  injustice,  is  re 
ceived  into  the  bosoms  of  a  generous  people  with  a  thousand  fold  more  enthusiasm,  than  would 
otherwise  have  been  felt  for  him,  with  all  his  exalted  gifts.  "  He  is  too  good  a  man  to  be  Presi 
dent,"  was  all  that  could  be  urged  against  his  nomination  at  Harrisburg  in  1839.  We  shall  see 
whether  such  a  libel  on  the  American  people  will  be  proved,  now  they  know  what  he  is.  Not  till 
it  is  proved,  will  we  consent  to  the  charge  of  ingratitude  on  this  republic  towards  such  a  man. 

Mr,  Clay's  Magnanimity. 

None  will  deny,  that  Mr.  Clay  was  the  choice  of  the  Whig  party  for  the  Presidential  campaign 
of  1840,  or  that  his  public  services  had  fairly  entitled  him  to  the  nomination.  But  foreseeing  that 
the  Harrisburg  Convention  might  be  embarrassed  in  the  selection  of  the  candidate,  for  reasons 
which  it  is  unnecessary  here  to  notice,  Mr.  Clay  had  written  to  one  of  the  Delegates  in  terms  to 
discharge  his  friends  from  any  such  adherence  to  him,  as  might  tend  to  disturb  the  harmony  of  that 
body,  or  mar  general  unanimity  in  supporting  its  decision.  When  that  decision  was  finally  an 
nounced,  the  reading  of  this  letter,  the  existence  of  which  was  known  to  a  few,  was  called  for, 
from  which  we  make  the  following  extract : — "  With  a  just  and  proper  sense  of  the  high  honor  of 
being  voluntarily  called  to  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  by  a  great,  free,  and  en 
lightened  people,  and  profoundly  grateful  to  those  of  my  fellow-citizens  who  are  desirous  to  see 
me  placed  in  that  exalted  and  responsible  station,  I  must  nevertheless  say,  in  entire  truth  and  sin 
cerity,  that,  if  the  deliberations  of  the  Convention  shall  lead  them  to  the  choice  of  another  as  the 
candidate  of  the  Opposition,  far  from  feeling  any  discontent,  the  nomination  shall  have  my  best  wishes, 
AND  RECEIVE  MY  CORDIAL  SUPPORT."  Considering  the  just  claims  of  the  writer,  as  universally  ac 
knowledged,  but  which  he  would  be  the  last  to  put  forward,  and  what  must  necessarily  have  been 
his  motive  in  this  letter,  none  can  fail  to  be  deeply  impressed  with  a  sense  of  its  magnanimity  and 
patriotism.  Such  was  the  preponderance  and  force  of  the  popular  desire  for  the  nomination  of 
Mr.  Clay,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe,  that  the  summons  to  the  onset  of  1840  would  have  failed, 
if  Mr.  Clay  had  not  so  magnanimously  stepped  forward,  at  the  head  of  his  own  legions,  to  fight 
the  great  battle  in  favor  of  the  Nominee  who  had  been  selected. 

A  Contrast. 

In  1829,  at  the  end  of  Mr.  Adams'  Administration,  it  could  be  said,  that  Congress  had  been  in 
dependent,  and  the  dominant  power  in  the  republic,  as  the  immediate  representatives  of  the  people 
ever  ought  to  be.  Then,  our  commerce,  agriculture,  and  manufactures,  were  in  a  most  flourishing 
condition,  never  so  much  so  ;  our  currency  system  was  sound,  the  best  in  the  world  ;  labor  was 
sure  of  employment,  and  of  a  fair  reward;  there  were  few  brokers,  usurers,  and  money-lenders  5 
work,  and  not  speculation,  was  the  business  of  the  people  ;  our  habits  were  simple  and  democratic  j 
and  our  national  honor  and  commercial  credit,  without  a  stain.  We  were  a  prosperous,  wealthy, 
thriving,  happy  people.  Such  was  the  state  of  the  country  when  its  government  was  conducted 
on  the  principles  of  Mr.  Clay,  and  he  a  part  of  the  Government. 

But  in  1829,  democracy  was  superseded  by  ONE  MAN  POWER  ;  Congress  became  a  mere  Execu 
tive  tool ;  a  train  of  devastation,  social  and  commercial,  moral  and  physical,  such  as  no  other 
country  ever  experienced  in  so  short  a  time,  from  similar  causes,  followed  ;  our  manufactures  were 
nearly  prostrated;  trade  was  paralyzed;  agriculture  was  depressed;  the  currency  was  ruined-; 
general  morals  Avere  corrupted  ;  our  honor  sullied  and  our  credit  gone  ;  wild  and  ruinous  specula* 
tions  drove  industry  and  economy  from  the  field  of  enterprise  ;  brokers  and  jobbers  rode  the  na 
tion  out  of  breath  and  out  of  flesh ;  and  the  Government  of  the  country,  in  all  its  branches  and 
agencies,  was  put  up  at  auction  to  the  highest  bidders,  in  a  system  of  utter  political  venality  and 
crime. 

"  Look  on  this  picture— then  on  that." 

64 


THE 

JUIIUS  TRACTS. 

-~-.t'*  No.  V.     ^W 


PUBLISHED  EVERY  SECOND  MONTH.  [1843. 


POLITICAL  ABOLITION. 

BY  JUNIUS. 

Author  of  "  THE  CRISIS  OF  THE  COUNTRY,"  and  other  Tracts  of  1840. 
Price,  3  cents  single,  $2  50  cts.  per  100,  or  $20  per  1000. 


. 
TRACTS  ALREADY  PUBLISHED. 

No.     I.  THE  TEST,  OR  PARTIES  TRIED  BY  THEIR  ACTS. 
«     II.  THE  CURRENCY. 
«    III.  THE   TARIFF. 
V    IV.  LIFE  OF  HENRY  CLAY. 
«      V.  POLITICAL  ABOLITION. 

ITT-  NOTICE  :  Committees,  Clubs,  and  all  persons  desirous  of  obtaining  these  Traett^ 
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rribune  Office,  New  York,  who  will  promptly  forward  them  to  any  part  of  the  Union,  as  may 
ije  directed.  Remittances  by  mail,  post  paid  or  free,  at  the  risk  of  the  proprietor.  Price  fov 
%ny  one  of  the  series,  $2  50  cts.  per  100  copies,  or  $20  per  1000. 
U7"  Postmasters  are  authorized  by  law  to  make  remittances  under  their  frank. 


NEW  YORK: 
PUBLISHED  BY  GREELEY  &  McELRATH, 

TRIBUNE  BUILDINGS,  160  NASSAU  STREET. 


1844. 


[Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1843,  by  CALVIN  COLTON,  in  the  Clerk's  office  of  t$t 
District  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  and  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York.] 

jpr  EXTRACTS  in  Newspapers,  for  purpose  of  review,  are  allowed,  but  the  republication  of  thfe 

Tract  is  forbidden. 

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DO 


2 

P  TP  ^  A  *T  TP  P»  IT  T  Vf  ^"1  T 

POLITICAL  ABOLITION. 

1.  The  Author's  position,  on  the  subject  of  slavery. 

It  is  that  of  a  Northern  man,  born  and  educated  in  a  free  State,  always  opposed  to  slavery, 
•till  opposed  to  it,  judging  it  to  be  wrong,  and  desiring  to  see  it  abolished,  as  well  in  this 
country,  as  in  all  others.  This  he  assumes  to  be  the  general  feeling  of  the  people  in  the  free 
States,  as  he  has  rarely  found  an  instance  to  the  contrary.  We,  therefore,  of  the  free  States, 
(we  speak  for  the  great  body  of  the  people,)  do  not  yield  to  the  Abolitionists  a  whit  in  om 
imposition  to  slavery;  we  differ  from  them  only  as  to  the  mode  of  getting  rid  of  the  evil.  W« 
claim  to  be  the  true  'friends  of  the  slave,  while  we  believe  them  to  be  pursuing  a  course  hos 
tile  to  his  best  interests,  and  unfavorable  to  his  emancipation. 

2.  The  origin  of  slavery  in  the  United  States. 

It  is  enough  to  say,  that  it  was  imposed  upon  the  Colonies,  by  the  British  Government,  foi 
the  augmentation  of  its  revenue  and  the  profit  of  its  favorites,  against  the  anxious  protests  of 
the  Colonists  themselves,  and  that  while  the  Colonies  were  subject  to  the  British  Crown,  it 
had  grown  to  an  extent  not  easy  to  be  eradicated.  Thus  far,  the  responsibility  of  its  intro 
duction  and  growth,  is  settled.  When  the  Colonies  became  independent,  and  were  about  to 
get  up  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  those  members  of  the  Confederation,  which  had 
slavery  as  a  part  of  their  state  of  society,  foreseeing  the  evils  of  interference  with  this  subject 
from  other  quarters,  refused  to  come  into  the  Union  under  the  Constitution,  without  an  ex 
press  stipulation  to  secure  their  exclusive  control  of  the  slave  question  within  their  respective 
limits,  which  condition  was  acceded  to.  Such,  briefly,  is  the  origin  of  slavery  in  the  United 
States. 

3.  The  more  remote  origin  of  Occidental  or  American  slavery  of  the  African  race. 
It  began  in  a  proposal  of  Las  Casas,  a  Roman  Catholic  priest,  to  the  Spanish  Government, 
for  authority  to  introduce  Africans  by  importation  into  the  West  Indies,  to  save  the  natives, 
who  were  being  exterminated  by  hard  service  and  severe  treatment  under  the  Spaniards. 
His  object  was  benevolent.  From  that  germe,  African  slavery  spread  over  this  Western  world. 
Its  still  more  remote  origin,  however,  lay  in  the  previous  debased  condition  and  barbarous 
customs  of  the  African  tribes,  which  invited  the  Asiatics  on  the  East  and  Europeans  on  the 
North,  to  trade  in  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men,  whom  portions  of  their  own  race,  by  prowess 
of  arms,  had  first  made  captive,  and  then  exposed  for  sale — a  custom  of  t^e  African  tribes,  or 
hordes,  practised  from  time  immemorial.  We  mention  it  not  as  an  apology  for  the  more  civ 
ilized  portions  of  the  world,  for  engaging  in  this  inhuman  traffic,  but  as  an  historical  fact  to 
account  for  the  origin  of  African  slavery.  It  originated  in  the  barbarous  passions  and  habits 
of  the  race. 

4.  How  the  subject  of  slavery  should  be  approached. 

For  all  that  the  United  States  are  concerned  in  it,  it  is  manifest,  that  the  present  Govern 
ment  and  people  of  this  country,  are  in  no  wise  responsible  for  its  origin.  It  was  entailed  as 
*  calamity,  and  its  being  on  the  hands  of  any  of  the  States,  when  we  acquired  our  indepen 
dence,  can  not  be  charged  as  a  crime.  They  are  only  responsible  for  the  manner  in  which 
they  treat  it,  and  for  the  disposition  that  shall  be  ultimately  made  of  it.  They  who  believe  in 
that  Providence,  with  whom  "  one  day  is  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one 
day,"  will  look  forward  for  some  grand  and  beneficent  result  to  grow  out  of  that  providential 
treatment,  which  has  marked  the  history  of  this  race  for  centuries  past.  It  is  a  great  wheel 
moving  round,  and  notwithstanding  all  the  clouds  and  darkness  that  have  overhung  it,  some 
rays  of  light  have  dawned  on  its  progress.  Miracles  of  relief  are  not  to  be  expected ;  but 
relief  will  come  at  last. 

5.  Definition. 

By  political  abolition,  as  used  in  this  Tract,  we  mean  that  well-known  movement,  got  up 
tn  the  free  States,  to  accomplish  this  object,  by  resorting  to  the  ballot-box,  in  its  bearings  on 
the  National  Administration.  It  can  not  be  denied,  that  the  ballot-box  is  a  primary  and  fun 
damental  political  power.  All  other  political  powers  above  it,  are  only  its  instruments  and 
agents.  Whatever  may  result  from  this  primary  function  of  the  body  politic,  these  primary 
actors  are  responsible  for.  It  is  this  power  which  directs  and  controls  the  offices  of  legislation, 
the  functions  oi  magistracy,  and  the  sword  of  war.  It  is  the  original  and  effective  agency  of 
political  society,  in  a  popular  government  like  ours. 

6.  The  formation  of  our  Government. 

It  has  been  justly  called  a  Government  of  compromise,  on  account  of  the  variety  of  conflict 
ing  interests  which  had  to  be  consulted  before  its  consummation.  The  achievement  of  Inde 
pendence  was  but  half  the  work.  We  were  a  spectacle  to  the  whole  world  as  to  what  1R 

66 


should  come  to.  The  friends  of  liberty  were  anxious,  its  enemies  still  hoped  for  our  failure, 
while  we  had  to  encounter  appalling  difficulties.  The  Confederation  proved  miserably  de 
ficient,  and  nothing  could  exceed  the  concern  of  our  most  eminent  patriots,  till  the  Constitu 
tion  was  finally  adopted.  It  was  entirely  a  new  kind  of  government,  composed  of  wheels 
within  a  wheel,  of  inferior  sovereignties  allied  to  one  superior  and  general.  In  the  construc 
tion  of  this  machinery,  it  was  necessary  exactly  to  define  the  powers  of  the  General  Govern 
ment,  so  as  not  to  interfere  with  those  of  the  States.  This  being  done,  the  powers  of  the 
States,  called  State  Rights,  are  determined  by  the  following  Article,  the  Tenth  of  the  Amend 
ments  : — "  The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited 
by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States  respectively,  or  to  the  people."  From  this  article 
is  derived  the  exclusive  power  of  the  slave  States  over  slavery  within  their  respective  limits,  it 
being  one  of  the  powers  "  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  prohib 
ited  by  it  to  the  States."  In  all  such  powers,  the  States  are  as  sovereign  as  any  independent 
nations. 

7.  The  political  compact  of  the  Union — political  rights  resulting  therefrom. 
While  we  are  one  nation,  we  are  many  States,  and  the  States  are  not  provinces,  recognising 
in  all  things  the  supremacy  of  the  national  authorities;  nor  municipal  corporations,  acting  in 
the  capacity  of  counties  and  towns,  under  a  commonwealth ;  but  they  are  original,  indepen 
dent,  and  sovereign  powers  in  all  things  "  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Consti 
tution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States ;"  and  these  delegated  and  prohibited  powers  were 
not  imposed  by  authority,  but  surrendered  by  compact,  while  the  States  were  acting  in  the 
capacity  of  original  and  independent  sovereignties.  It  was  of  the  nature  of  a  treaty  be 
tween  nations,  as  a  political  transaction,  though  more  intimate  and  more  solemn,  having  in 
view  a  different  and  more  comprehensive  object — viz  :  a  supreme  and  supervising  authority 
as  to  the  powers  "  delegated."  But  the  political  rights  "  reserved,"  are  as  independent  and 
sovereign,  as  those  of  two  nations  are,  under  compact  of  a  treaty,  in  all  things  not  belonging 
to  the  treaty.  This  view,  which  we  believe  to  be  correct,  is  important  to  our  present  purpose. 

8.  The  importance  and  solemnity  of  the  Union  as  a  compromise  between  the  parties. 
But  for  this  compromise,  the  struggle  and  cost  of  the  American  Revolution  would  in  all 
probability  have  been  wasted.  It  was  indispensably  necessary  to  save  and  secure  the  freedom 
and  independence  we  had  acquired.  The  parties  to  this  compact  had  diverse  interests  to  pro 
tect,  and  diverse  difficulties  to  encounter.  The  arrangement,  as  finally  adjusted  and  ratified, 
was  regarded  by  our  fathers  as  one  of  great  solemnity  and  of  unspeakable  importance.  It 
was  viewed  with  a  -kind  of  religious  awe,  and  with  conscientious  respect.  The  man  that 
would  lift  his  hand  to  impair  or  disturb  it,  would  have  been  scathed  by  the  reprobation  of  a 
universal  public  sentiment — a  feeling  that  has  been  cherished  from  that  time  to  this,  and  ever 
ought  to  be  cherished. 

9.   Where  lies  the  responsibility  of  slavery  under  this  compact. 

Do  we,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  hold  ourselves  responsible  for  any  of  the  laws  and 
institutions  of  Great  Britain,  of  France,  or  of  any  other  foreign  and  independent  power,  be 
cause  we  happen  to  be  under  a  treaty  with  them  ?  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  the  treaty  or  com 
pact  of  this  Union,  is  not  precisely  of  the  same  character  with  our  treaty  stipulations  with 
foreign  nations,  as  it  bears  on  the  question  before  us,  in  that  it  goes  farther,  and  is  more  par 
ticular  in  its  specifications.  We  never  promise,  that  we  will  not  meddle  with  the  domestic 
regulations  of  foreign  powers,  when  we  make  treaties  with  them ;  for  it  is  not  deemed  neces 
sary.  But  we  have  promised,  and  solemnly  engaged,  that  "  the  powers  not  delegated  to 
the  United  States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are"  (of  course,  shall 
be)  "  reserved  to  the  States  respectively."  But,  the  political  compact  of  a  treaty  with  a  foreign 
power,  so  far  as  it  goes,  is  precisely  of  the  same  political  character  with  the  political  compact 
of  this  Union.  How,  then,  can  the  free  States,  or  the  people  of  those  States,  be  responsible 
for  slavery  in  other  States,  which,  as  high  contracting  political  parties,  they  have  solemnly 
engaged  never  to  meddle  with  ?  This  power  is  "  reserved"  to  those  States.  If  the  free  States, 
or  the  people  of  those  States,  ever  had  anything  to  do  in  oi/ginating  slavery,  they  have  atoned 
for  it  by  abolishing  it.  The  slave  States  never  surrendered  the  care,  nor  transferred  the  re 
sponsibility  of  slavery,  either  to  the  General  Government,  or  to  the  free  States,  or  to  any 
parties  whatever.  How,  then,  can  the  General  Government,  or  the  free  States,  or  any  of 
their  parts  or  agencies,  be  responsible  for  that  which  they  not  only  never  had  in  charge,  but 
expressly  stipulated  not  to  assume  ?  The  responsibility  of  this  engagement  may  be  brought 
home  with  great  force  from  the  other  side,  nor  is  it  possible  to  escape  from  it.  More  than 
this  : — There  is  an  oath  of  allegiance,  always  implied  in  the  use  of  a  political  power  in  the 
State,  and  in  many  States  actually  administered  to  voters  and  public  officers,  to  support  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Put  these  obligations  together,  and  they  present  a  formi 
dable  obstacle  to  the  conscience  of  a  man,  who  thinks  of  stepping  over  or  tries  to  get  round 
them.  If,  as  American  citizens,  we  have  no  responsibility  in  the  serfdom  of  Russia,  of 

67 


Austria,  or  of  Turkey,  and  if  it  would  be  improper  for  us  to  interfere  with  it  politically,  mucn 
mere  as  parties  to  the  public  and  solemn  compact  of  this  Union,  are  we  bound  to  respect  its 
federative  engagements. 

10.  The  proper  ground  of  abolition. 

As  an  enterprise  of  humanity  and  benevolence,  employing  moral  means  only,  in  distinction 
from  political  agencies,  abolition  is  a  proper  mission  from  any  quarter  to  any  quarter.  Such 
has  ever  been  the  high  ground  laken  by  the  Society  of  Friends  a*  a  body.  They  have  protest 
ed  against  slavery  before  the  world,  and  done  what  they  could,  by  precept  and  example,  by 
speech  and  the  press,  and  by  various  modes  of  social  and  moral  influence,  for  its  extinction. 
In  this  work,  they  have  not  only  been  tolerated,  but  respected.  They  have  wielded  a  steady, 
progressive,  and  elective  influence.  Pacific  in  their  principles  and  practice,  they  have  been 
admitted  into  the  heart  of  slave-holding  communities,  to  bear  their  testimony. 

While  such  was  the  character  of  the  general  anti-slavery  feeling  and  operations  of  the  free 
States  of  this  Union,  their  voice  was  heard,  and  their  influence  was  salutary.  Thousands 
in  the  slave  Slates  joined  with  them,  and  slave-holders  themselves  were  open  to  argument  and 
conviction,  while  moral  means  and  pacific  measures  alone  were  employed.  But  the  moment 
when  political  abolition  rushed  into  the  field,  on  the  soil  of  the  free  States,  with  severe  de 
nunciation  and  the  use  of  the  ballot-box,  all  the  good  influence  of  the  anti-slavery  phalanx 
was  not  only  at  an  end,  but  a  retrograde  movement  in  the  cause  of  emancipation,  in  the  slave 
States,  commenced,  and  it  is  yet  a  moral  problem  in  the  aspects  of  society  in  that  quarter,  as 
to  how  many  years,  or  how  many  ages,  it  may  take  to  recover  the  ground  that  has  been  lost 

11.  Political  abolition  is  force. 

We  know  that  this  is  not  commonly  thought  of,  and  would  perhaps  at  first  be  questioned* 
But  a  vote  at  the  polls  is  the  original  and  fundamental  power  of  American  political  society, 
and  implies  force  in  the  end,  if  necessary.  The  first  attitude,  therefore,  or  first  position  of 
this  political  power,  is  that  of  incipient  force.  It  aims  to  compel  the  accomplishment  of  its 
designs  by  the  powers  of  the  State,  which  are  force  in  abeyance.  There  is  no  political  power 
in  existence,  which  is  not  fortified  by  force,  in  abeyance  or  in  actual  use,  or  that  could  stand 
one  day  without  it.  Such,  precisely,  is  the  position  assumed  by  political  abolition  in  the  free 
States. 

12.  Jlud  it  is  an  aggressive  movement. 

This  results  from  the  political  structure  of  the  Union,  before  considered.  Slavery,  in  any 
of  these  States,  occupies  the  same  position,  politically,  in  relation  to  the  other  States,  which 
the  institutions  and  laws  of  the  European  nations  do  to  the  United  States.  Suppose,  then, 
that  a  party  should  start  up  in  this  country,  and  go  to  the  polls,  augmenting  their  forces  every 
year,  with  the  declared  object  of  putting  down  any  one  or  more  of  the  institutions  of  a  Euro 
pean  power,  because,  in  their  view,  that  institution  is  a  bad  one,  oppressive,  and  destructive 
of  human  liberty.  There  are  many  such  institutions  in  Europe.  Would  it  not  be  regarded 
as  an  aggressive  movement  ? — And  if  there  were  any  chance  or  apprehension  of  success, 
would  it  be  a  matter  of  surprise,  if  the  menaced  power  should  put  itself  on  the  defensive  ? — 
Would  it  be  strange,  if  that  power  should  take  measures  to  anticipate  the  movement,  and 
commence  aggressive  operations,  in  retaliation  ?  The  crusade  of  the  first  party  might  be  ft 
very  benevolent  one;  but  as  a  political  movement,  it  would  be  aggressive. 

13.  Political  abolition,  in  the  free  States,  is  a  breach  of  faith. 

This  also  results  from  the  political  structure  of  the  Union  already  noticed.  Do  we  hold 
ourselves  at  liberty  to  break  a  treaty  with  a  foreign  power,  because  we  have  since  concluded 
that  we  can  not  tolerate  some  evil  or  evils  in  its  bosom — evils  which  existed  when  the  treaty 
was  made,  which  were  then  considered  by  us,  and  which  we  agreed  to  tolerate,  or  at  least,  to 
leave  entirely  on  their  responsibility  and  in  their  discretion  ? — If  we  originate  a  new  political 
movement,  to  disturb  this  arrangement,  do  we  not  violate  the  treaty  ? — But  the  compact  of 
this  Union  is  of  a  more  solemn  nature,  than  a  ratified  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  a 
foreign  power ;  nor  are  the  slave  States  less  independent  and  sovereign,  as  to  the  matter  in 
question,  than  a  foreign  power,  with  which  we  are  supposed  to  be  connected  by  such  treat? 
stipulations. 

14.  The  impracticability  of  political  abolition. 

We  speak  of  course,  in  the  case  now  under  consideration,  of  such  a  movement  in  the  free 
States  towards  the  slave  States.  It  is  impracticable,  1.  Because  political  power  is  force,  and 
force  is  offensive.  2.  Because  the  parties  assailed,  can  shield  themselves  behind  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States.  3.  Because,  the  farther  political  abolition,  from  such  a  quarter, 
goes,  the  worse  and  more  hopeless  is  its  cause,  both  as  respects  the  temper  of  slave-holders, 
and  the  condition  of  the  slaves.  4.  Because  the  limit  of  such  a  movement,  unless  often  violence 
is  meditated,  will  be  found  just  where  its  operations  will  have  had  no  other  effect  than  to  plan* 
obstacles  in  its  own  path.  5.  And  consequently,  because,  such  being  the  Constitutional  bat 


ner  to  this  movement,  every  thing  done  in  this  way,  by  its  moral  effect,  forces  the  object  m 
view  into  a  more  remote  position  of  possible  attainment,  if,  indeed,  it  should  not  render  it  foi 
ever  unattainable. 

15.   The  mischievous  results  of  political  abolition  already  developed. 

It  is  well  known,  that,  previous  to  the  start  of  political  abolition  in  the  free  States,  the 
spirit  of  emancipation  prevailed  extensively  in  the  slave  States,  and  among  slave-hn'ders ; 
that  the  leading  and  most  influential  men  in  those  States,  were  accustomed  freely  to  acknow 
ledge  the  evils  of  slavery,  and  were  engaged  in  benevolent  schemes  to  abate  them  ;  tb<*t  many 
of  them  entertained  with  favor,  the  purpose  of  a  gradual,  and  ultimately  an  entire  abolition; 
that  numerous  conscientious  persons  were  providing  for  the  emancipation  of  their  own  slaves; 
that  entire  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press,  on  the  subject,  was  tolerated  ;  that  free  colored 
people  in  the  slave  States,  were  generally  treated  with  indulgence,  and  encouraged;  and  that 
this  state  of  feeling  had  made  visible  progress,  from  the  organization  of  our  government,, 
down  to  the  outbreak  of  political  abolition  in  the  free  States.  There  was  a  fair  prospect, 
that  one  slave  State  after  another,  beginning  with  the  more  northern,  if  left  to  their  own  free' 
and  undisturbed  action,  would  follow  the  example  of  New  Jersey,  New  York,  and  Pennsylva 
nia,  in  the  total  extinction  of  slavery.  Such  was  the  state  of  things,  while  the  subject  was 
left  to  the  moral  influences  operating  quietly  and  pacifically,  but  effectively,  on  the  public 
mind.  It  is  but  a  few  years  since,  that  a  strong  movement  was  made  in  the  State  and  legisla 
ture  of  Virginia,  for  the  adoption  of  a  system  of  emancipation,  which  was  eloquently  debated, 
and  had  a  large  minority  vote. 

But,  behold  the  change !  Maryland,  which  was  expected  first  to  move  in  the  cause  of 
.  emancipation,  taking  alarm  from  sucli  interference,  has  inserted  a  clause  in  her  Constitution 
for  the  perpetuity  of  slavery  !  The  whole  mind  of  the  slave  States,  has  been  thrown  olF  from 
its  former  basis  of  growing  favor  toward  emancipation,  and  put  in  an  attitude  of  defence 
against  foreign  interference.  The  ingress  of  free  blacks  into  the  slave  States  has  generally 
been  interdicted  ;  free  colored  residents  have  been  banished  from  some  parts,  and  in  all  places 
subjected  to  great  disadvantages,  and  deprived  of  important  privileges;  the  work  of  emanci 
pation  has  been  put  in  check,  and  the  disposition  for  it  quenched;  rigorous  defensive  laws 
have  been  enacted  and  enforced  ;  the  intellectual,  moral,  and  religious  improvement  of  the 
slaves,  which  before  was  encouraged,  and  growing  in  popularity,  has  been  very  much  abridged, 
and  in  some  places  entirely  stopped  ;  the  slaves  are  subjected  to  a  stricter  watch,  and  treated 
with  greater  rigor,  where  causes  of  apprehension  exist;  scarcely  an  advocate  of  emancipation 
can  be  found  '#  the  slave  Stales,  where  there  were  thousands,  and  tens  of  thousands  before; 
freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press,  except  on  one  side  of  the  question,  is  chiefly  suppressed; 
and  the  entire  slave-holding  portion  of  the  Union,  instead  of  being  engaged,  as  beibre,  in 
meliorating  the  condition  of  the  slaves,  mitigating  the  rigors  of  the  system,  and  inarching 
forward  toward  the  goal  of  final  emancipation,  has  been  forced  into  an  attitude,  and  into 
measures  of  defence  against  the  political  abolition  of  the  free  States. 

We  ask,  if  these  are  not  very  impressive  and  very  instructive  facts  ? — The  lessons  of  ex 
perience  teach  us,  that  it  is  safe  to  judge  of  the  future  from  the  past,  of  what  is  to  come  from 
what  has  happened.  Such  being  our  rule  of  judgment,  it  is  manifest,  that,  as  political  abo 
lition  has  yet  done  nothing  but  injury  to  the  cause  it  has  taken  in  hand,  and  injury  on  an 
immense  scale,  it  will  do  nothing  but  injury  in  time  to  come. 

16.  Civil  war. 

We  are  not  fond  of  alarming  topics,  nor  disposed  to  excite  unnecessary  anxiety.  But  tLe 
evils  of  political  abolition,  rising  up  in  the  North,  must  be  faced,  and  the  consequences  i* 
tends  to,  must  be  considered.  However  averse  the  people  of  the  free  States  may  be  to  slave 
ry — and  we  believe  they  are  almost  universally  so — yet  they  can  not  but  feel,  that  this  remedy 
of  political  abolition  is  worse  than  the  disease,  first,  because  the  rudeness  and  violence  of  the 
treatment  only  aggravate  it ;  and  next,  because  they  fear,  that  the  medicine,  if  administered 
as  proposed,  will  kill  both  the  patient  and  the  doctor.  A  dissolution  of  the  Union  would  be 
as  certain  as  any  effect  of  a  moral  cause  that  can  be  reckoned  on.  Nor  is  it  likely,  that  this 
would  be  the  end.  The  political  asperities  and  exasperations  that  would  grow  out  of  such 
a  conflict,  would  themselves  naturally  be  breeders  of  other  convulsions  ;  and  it  would  not  be 
strange,  if  some  military  chieftain,  or  chieftains,  should  rise  up  in  the  struggle,  to  make  slaves 
of  all  freemen,  and  bind  in  stronger  chains,  those  whom,  by  such  means,  it  is  proposed  to  set 
free. 

We  are  a  family  of  States,  bound  together  by  a  covenant  solemnly  ratified,  which  prescribe* 
the  rights  of  each.  In  this  family,  concord  is  beautiful ;  but  family  quarrels  are  the  worst  of 
all.  Civil  war  is  the  most  terrible  and  most  desolating  of  all  wars,  and  most  difficult  to  be 
brought  to  an  end.  Look  at  Spain.  Will  any  one  say,  that  such  a  movement,  as  the  polit 
ical  abolition  of  the  North,  does  not  put  in  jeopardy  the  peace  of  this  Union,  and  the  Union 
itself  ?  And  can  any  human  foresight  tell  what  scenes  of  strife  it  is  likely  to  produce,  if  it 

69 


6 

Sttmld  be  encouraged  to  pass  on  its  way  towards  the  supreme  power  of  the  nation,  which  if 
now  its  avowed  aim  ? 

17.  The  effect  of  political  abolition  on  the  annexation  of  Texas. 

Under  the  present  extent  of  our  national  jurisdiction,  we  can  not  see  much  occasion  ol 
jealousy  between  the  North  and  South,  in  regard  to  slavery,  if  the  Federal  Constitution  should 
be  scrupulously  observed  by  all  parties.  But,  if  political  abolition  in  the  North  insists  on 
making  its  demonstrations  and  advances  towards  the  South,  it  is  very  natural  that  the  South 
should  endeavor  to  fortify  itself  by  all  means  in  its  power ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  disguised,  that 
the  annexation  of  Texas,  as  a  slave  State,  itself  a  field  for  the  growth  of  several  slave  States 
hereafter  to  be  erected,  would  strengthen  their  balance  of  power  in  the  Union,  and  tend  to 
give  them  a  preponderance.  Doubtless  this  question  will  be  agitated,  and  the  strongest  motive 
of  the  South,  and  its  strongest  argument  for  the  annexation,  will  be  the  growth  and  influence 
of  Northern  political  abolition.  In  whatever  aspect,  therefore,  we  view  this  movement,  it 
threatens  to  disturb  the  Union.  Leave  the  slave  States,  just  where  the  Federal  Constitution 
has  placed  them,  unmolested  in  their  Constitutional  securities,  and  we  can  not  see  any  good 
reason  why  they  should  be  anxious  for  the  annexation  of  Texas — certainly  not  to  urge  it. 
But  the  continued  agitation  of  political  abolition  in  the  North,  will  give  them  an  apology,  and 
be  a  strong  incentive  for  efforts  to  attain  that  end.  If  the  free  States,  by  reason  of  the  fact 
of  political  abolition  moving  on  in  the  midst  of  them,  can  not  say  to  the  slave  States, — Your 
Constitutional  securities  shall  be  respected — their  ground  of  opposition  to  the  annexation  of 
Texas  will  be  greatly  weakened,  and  the  slave  States  will  have  a  power  of  motive  a^d  a  force 
of  argument,  which  would  not  otherwise  be  ftlt.  There  is  no  other  public  question  likely 
soon  to  rise  in  the  public  mind  of  this  country,  in  the  disposal  of  which  political  abolition  in 
the  North  would  so  embarrass  the  friends  of  the  Union.  If  this  consideration  should  operate 
«s  fuel  tq  the  hopes  of  the  abolition  party,  we  should  be  very  sorry;  but  it  is  too  important, 
as  a  warning  to  the  country,  to  pass  unnoticed.  A  feeling  that  will  be  gratified  in  the 
approach  of  difficulties  that  will  engender  greater  difficulties,  and  which  possibly  may  end  in 
what  would  startle  common  minds  to  think  of,  is  one  that  ought  to  give  us  concern,  if  it  is  to 
have  influence  in  contributing  to  such  a  result. 

18.  The  suicidal  character  of  political  abolition. 

It  is  taken  for  granted,  that,  if  political  abolitionists  were  to  vote  for  the  one  or  the  other 
of  the  two  great  parties  of  the  country,  they  would  not  support  the  party  that  is  opposed  to 
emancipation  in  all  forms,  and  which,  in  possession  of  power,  would  use  it  against  abolitionists 
with  a  vengeance.  There  are  numerous  other  reasons',  political,  moral,  and  religious,  why 
the  Abolitionists  generally  would  not  support  that  party.  Their  sympathies  naturally  run  in 
another  direction.  But  do  they  not  see,  that  every  two  votes  they  give  for  political  abolition, 
is  one  vote  to  raise  that  party  to  power,  and  defeat  themselves,  not  only  as  to  what  they  vote 
for,  but  in  other  great  interests  of  society,  to  which  they  can  not  be  indifferent,  though  they 
may  shut  their  eyes  to  them  { — This  diverted  action  of  political  power — it  is  averred  to  b« 
40,000  votes  in  the  free  States — in  a  nice  balance  of  the  two  great  parties,  may  throw  the 
government  of  the  States  and  the  nation  into  hands  that  will  ruin  us  all,  as  they  have  here* 
tofore  tried  to  do,  with  no  small  success.  By  this  means,  the  political  Abolitionists  have  again 
and  again  defeated  the  candidates  they  would  most  of  them  otherwise  vote  for,  both  for  State 
and  national  legislation  and  government,  and  raised  to  power  men  with  whom  they  have  littls 
or  no  sympathy,  political,  social,  moral,  or  religious. 

19.  The  responsibility  of  using  the  franchise,  or  ballot,  for  political  abolition. 

Such  a  use  of  the  ballot  is  political  abolition  itself.  We  hope  it  may  be  quite  unnecessary 
to  say,  that  we  can  not  innocently  violate  our  allegiance  to  the  State,  for  a  benevolent  object ; 
and  we  trust  we  have  satisfactorily  shown,  that  the  slavery  of  the  slave  States  is  placed  beyond 
the  Constitutional  power  of  the  free  States  by  the  compact  of  the  Union.  Is  there,  then,  no 
responsibility  in  attempting  to  break  down  a  foreign  power— foreign  to  us,— by  such  weapons  ? 
A  mission  of  benevolence,  which  might  otherwise  be  very  commendable,  becomes  a  crime, 
when  moral  obligations  are  trampled  under  foot  in  the  enterprise.  By  what  authority  can 
we  violate  a  covenant,  to  do  a  good  act  ?— Shall  we  say,  that  the  good  to  be  attained  is  para 
mount,  and  erect  our  individual  'feelings  into  a  court  to  set  aside  public  law  ? 

But  to  the  responsibility  arising  from  moral  considerations,  is  to  be  added  that  of  disregard 
to  the  general  welfare  of  the  republic.  Is  it  not  strange,  unnatural,  that  American  citizens, 
by  casting  their  votes  where  they  have  no  chance  of  success,  should  thus  contribute  to  aug 
ment  and  perpetuate  the  common  misfortunes  of  the  country,  by  raising  men  to  power,  who, 
they  know,  are  advocates  of  destructive  measures?  More  than  this: — are  these  Abolition 
Toters  conscientious  men—religi-aus  1  How,  then,  before  God,  can  they  be  acquitted,  if  by 
their  means,  such  men  as  Robert  Dale  Owen,  a  partner  of  Fanny  Wright,  and  member  of  the 
28th  Congress,  and  Ely  Moore,  of  the  Fanny  Wrignt  school,  and  member  of  the  24th  and  25th 
elected  by  the  infidel  ticket,  are  to  JJike  laws  lor  this  nation  •  and  if  such  men  as 
70 


Thomas  Herttell,  also  of  the  Fanny  Wright  school,  who,  in  1833,  moved  in  the  legislature  of 
New  York,  to  lay  on  the  table  the  motion  for  daily  prayers  during  the  Session,  and  thus  stifled 
the  public  recognition  of  Providence — are  to  make  laws  for  the  States  ?  Like  the  dog  in  th* 
manger,  the  political  abolitionists  will  neither  eat  hay,  nor  allow  a  hungry  ox  to  eat  it. 

Yet  more  than  this  : — Suppose — for  there  is  no  reasonable  motive  for  such  action  without 
some  hope  of  success — Suppose,  that,  by  one  step,  and  in  one  year,  the  political  Abolitionists 
could  attain  supreme  power  in  the  nation.  Knowing  their  designs,  because  they  are  declared, 
would  not  every  reflecting  man  tremble  at  the  consequences  ?  Are  there  many  men  in  their 
own  ranks,  that  would  dare  to  look  such  a  posture  of  public  affairs  in  the  face  ?  The  same, 
precisely,  is  the  character,  object,  and  peril  of  the  enterprise,  in  the  position  which  it  now 
occupies,  and  in  the  successive  stages  of  its  actual  progress.  Every  man  who  votes  that  way 
at  the  pplls,  incurs  this  tremendous  responsibility.  He  can  not  disengage  himself  from  the  ob 
ligations  of  an  American  citizen,  and  say,  he  will  leave  the  Constitution  to  take  care  of  itself, 
or  vote  to  break  it  down.  The  American  Government  may  be  imperfect  in  some  of  its  parts 
— what  human  edifice  is  not?  But  it  is  a  great,  a  responsible,  a  momentous  trust,  confided 
to  the  ballot-box.  It  was  a  great  compromise  of  feeling  and  interest  between  numerous  par 
ties,  and  was  formed  under  circumstances  of  peculiar  trial.  Now,  that  some  of  the  parties 
have  waxed  strong  by  the  pro/it  of  the  Union,  will  they  dare  to  take  the  responsibility  of 
upsetting  it,  because  some  one  or  more  of  its  terms  do  not  suit  them  ?  Are  they  at  liberty,  as 
conscientious  men,  to  do  it  ?  The  object  they  have  in  view,  is  neither  within  the  sphere  of 
their  political,  nor  of  their  social  duty,  however  their  moral  feelings  may  be  so  inclined. 
Surely  they  will  not  plead  conscience  to  violate  a  contracted  obligation,  to  go  out  on  a  mission 
of  benevolence ! 

20.  The  spirit  of  bragging. 

It  gives  us  pain  and  anxiety,  whenever  we  hear  people  of  one  part  of  the  Union  boasting, 
that  they  can  do  without  the  other.  We  entreat  all  such  to  consider,  that  the  American  Gov 
ernment,  and  American  society,  imperfect  though  it  may  be,  cost  too  much  to  be  made  thus 
light  of.  It  is  too  important  in  itself,  and  too  important  as  a  spectacle  to  the  world.  From 
the  time  of  its  setting  up  till  this  hour,  the  whole  world  have  been  gazing  at  it  as  a  great  ex 
periment,  and  it  still  occupies  that  position  in  the  public  eye  of  mankind.  And  are  we  who 
are  responsible  for  its  operation,  and  for  the  results  it  may  work  out,  so  to  trifle  with  th« 
trust,  as  to  commit  it  all  to  the  winds  of  chance  again,  because  it  is  not  so  perfect  as  we  could 
wish  ? — Do  we  prefer  the  hazards  of  a  civil  commotion,  for  the  possibility  of  a  more  speedy 
social  improvement,  to  the  slower  progress  of  a  pacific  reform  ! 

2 1 .  Misrepresentation — Exaggeration. 

The  way  to  excite  sympathy,  is  to  sketch  a  strong  and  glowing  picture  of  suffering  under 
injustice.  It  is  in  this  way,  that  abolition  preachers,  lecturers,  books,  and  papers,  have  labor 
ed  to  work  on  the  feelings  of  those  who  know  nothing  of  slavery  by  actual  observation.  They 
have  misrepresented  facts,  and  given  exaggerated  accounts.  They  have  not  only  been  care 
ful  to  tell  nothing  but  the  worst  things  of  slavery,  but  they  have  made  the  bad  worse  than  it  is. 

Not  to  justify  slavery — God  forbid  we  should  do  that — it  is  nevertheless  true,  that  nearly  all 
the  evils  ascribed  to  it,  may  be  found  in  other  regions  and  in  other  relations  of  society,  in  forms 
equally  aggravated,  though  not,  perhaps,  in  cases  equally  numerous.  Do  we  hear  of  owners 
of  slaves  treating  them  with  great  severity,  or  maiming,  or  killing  them,  in  a  fit  of  passion  ? 
The  same  is  to  be  found  in  the  relations  of  masters  and  apprentices,  of  parents  and  children, 
of  husbands  and  wives,  in  the  free  States.  Are  slaves,  in  some  cases,  as  on  the  cotton,  sugar, 
and  rice  plantations,  over-worked  ?  If  we  take  the  evidence  of  British  Parliamentary  records, 
furnished  by  Government  Commissioners,  there  is  a  greater  amount  of  oppression  of  this  kind 
inflicted  on  the  half  million  of  operatives  in  British  manufactories,  than  on  the  whole,  two 
million  and  a  half  of  slaves  in  the  United  States,  as  derived  from  any  sources  of  evidence 
whatever.  Does  the  extensile  mingling  of  European  and  African  blood  evince  the  prevalence 
of  the  crime  that  produced  it  ?  We  have  not,  indeed,  the  same  species  of  evidence  to  establish 
this  indictment  against  the  white  population  of  the  free  States ;  but  there  are  Other  proofs  of 
the  fact  to  a  wide  extent.  To  the  domestic  slave-trade,  and  its  consequent  moral  and  social 
evils,  there  is  confessedly  no  exact  parallel  in  the  free  States ;  nevertheless,  there  are  practice* 
of  the  same  moral  character,  leading  to  like  results.  As  to  acts  of  cruelty  and  inhumanity, 
of  maiming  and  killing,  they  are  not  peculiar  to  a  state  of  slavery  ;  and  the  interest  of  masters 
in  preserving  unhurt  the  physical  constitution  of  their  slaves,  is  a  better  security  against  in 
humanity,  than  any  laws  of  society.  In  British  manufactories,  masters  have  not  the  same 
motives  of  interest  to  preserve  the  physical  vigor  of  operatives  by  humane  treatment,  as  the 
maimed  and  the  helpless  are  cast  on  the  parish.  Hence  we  find,  that  the  human  constitutioa 
is  more  frequently  destroyed,  in  British  factories,  by  overwork  and  cruel  treatment,  than 
among  the  slaves  of  the  United  States.  A  case  of  the  latter  is  rarely  to  be  found,  while  thost 
of  the  former  are  numerous. 

71 


8 

This,  we  believe,  is  a  fair  statement.  But  it  would  doubtless  subtract  somewhat  from  the 
force  of  abolition  preaching,  among  those  who  depend  for  information  on  the  lecturers. 

22.  But  it  is  slavery. 

This  can  not  be  denied.  But  the  Abolitionists  are  doing  nothing  to  help  that.  Not  a 
single  step  have  they  yet  taken  tending  to  relieve  the  doom,  but  every  measure  they  have 
adopted,  has  only  served  to  confirm  it,  and  to  make  it  worse.  They  proclaim  liberty,  and 
establish  slavery.  They  have  stepped  into  the  path  of  emancipation,  arrested  its  progress, 
and  put  it  back,  no  one  can  tell  how  long. 

This  consideration,  established  as  it  is  by  fact,  ought  to  have  great  weight  on  the  conscience 
of  those  who,  we  think,  must  stand  responsible  before  God  and  man,  first,  for  having  turned 
the  favorable  feeling  toward  emancipation  in  those  who  alone  have  power  to  effectait,  into 
disfavor,  and  to  a  large  extent,  into  opposition ;  and  secondly,  for  having  made  the  condition 
of  slaves  much  worse,  and  more  hopeless,  than  it  was  before. 

We  are  aware,  that  some  Abolitionists  will  fly  from  this  charge,  by  saying,  they  are  not 
responsible  for  consequences,  after  having  done  their  duty.  But  the  very  question  of  duty 
depends,  in  part,  on  a  consideration  of  consequences.  If,  before  action,  it  should  be  said,  we 
can  not  believe  in  such  consequences,  or  we  trust  it  will  not  be  so,  there  might  be  some 
"apology  for  ignorance.  But,  when  the  consequences  have  actually  come  to  pass,  and  give  a 
sure  index  of  a  continued  result  of  the  same  character,  from  the  same  cause,  we  do  not  see 
kow  there  can  be  any  apology  or  excuse  for  such  action. 

The  following  are  facts  of  history,  as  they  bear  on  this  question:  1.  The  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  has  left  slavery  in  the  slave  States,  entirely  under  the  control  of  those  States, 
No  persons,  and  no  power,  foreign  to  those  States,  can  reach  or  touch  slavery  in  their  bounds, 
without  their  consent.  2.  There  was  a  growing  favor,  in  the  slave  States,  toward  emancipa 
tion,  before  Northern  Abolition  commenced  its  movement  toward  and  upon  them.  This  feel 
ing  had  existed,  to  a  wide  extent,  among  the  greatest  and  most  influential  men  of  those  States, 
and  commendable  efforts  were  in  progress  among  slaveholders,  to  meliorate  the  condition  of 
slaves,  to  instruct,  moralize,  and  Christianize  them,  and  to  prepare  the  way  for  whatever  of 
Sfood  might  result  from  such  efforts.  The  State  of  Virginia  had  made  a  powerful  movement 
in  a  Convention  called  to  amend  the  Constitution,  and  in  her  legislature,  for  an  Act  of  eman 
cipation.  But,  3.  It  is  no  less  true,  as  all  know,  that  this  feeling  has  been  repressed,  and 
this  movement  checked,  since  Northern  Abolition  broke  out,  the  former  being  the  effect  of  the 
latter  as  a  cause.  The  intellectual  and  moral  improvement  of  the  slaves  has  been  to  a  great 
extent  suspended,  and  they  have  been  treated  with  greater  rigor.  Their  bondage  has  been 
made  stronger,  and  its  evils  aggravated, 

Is  there  no  responsibility  in  this,  when  it  was  known,  that,  there  was  a  Constitutional  barrier, 
over  which  Northern  Abolition,  as  a  political  movement,  could  not  pass,  and  when  it  might,  and 
therefore  should  have  been  known,  that,  by  moral  necessity,  such  would  be  the  effect  of  such  a 
cause  ?  Though  it  should  be  said,  it  is  wrong  that  the  slave  States  should  have  been  so  pro-  • 
voked,  is  there  no  wrong  in  the  provocation  ?  We  can  not  but  feel,  that  the  provokers  will 
be  held  responsible  for  this  result,  as  well  in  the  court  of  heaven,  as  in  the  moral  sense  of 
mankind.  It  can  not  be  denied,  that  they  have  laid  waste  that  garden  of  good  feeling  in  the 
slave  States,  which  Providence  had  planted  and  nouriohed  so  long,  and  which  promised  so 
much  good  fruit  for  the  benefit  of  the  slave,  and  converted  it  into  something  like  a  sterile 
wilderness.  Nor  can  it  be  denied,  that,  by  the  same  means,  the  chains  of  slavery  have  been 
riveted  tighter  than  before,  its  evils  enhanced,  and  its  prospects  darkened.  We  speak  offacU,, 
and  all  know,  that  these  are  facts,  and  that  such  is  the  CAUSE. 

23.   What  the  people  of  this  country  will  not  permit. 

In  our  opinion,  they  will  not  permit  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  to  be  broken,  to 
accomplish  the  ends  of  Abolition.  The  Constitutional  boundaries  of  influence  and  control 
over  slavery,  are  now  pretty  well  recognised  by  all  parties.  They  have  been  much  better 
defined  since  the  movement  of  Northern  political  Abolition  commenced,  than  before.  This 
debate,  and  this  recognition  of  the  Constitutional  rule  on  the  subject,  have  brought  multitudes 
in  the  free  States  to  a  pause,  who  were  otherwise  disposed  to  favor  this  movement,  and  who 
are  always  ready  to  do  everything  Constitutional  for  the  Abolition  of  slavery  throughout  the 
Union.  This  feeling  of  respect  for  the  Constitution,  and  of  opposition  to  slavery,  is  the  pre 
vailing  feeling  of  the  free  States ;  and  for  our  part,  we  desire  it  may  ever  be  so.  In  this  state 
of  things,  since  the  people  of  the  free  States  can  not  Constitutionally,  in  the  use  of  their 
political  rights,  step  over  the  bounds  into  the  slave  States,  to  act  upon  the  institution  of  slavery, 
they  will  very  naturally,  and  for  aught  we  can  see,  may  very  properly,  desire  and  require  to 
be  rid  of  its  responsibility,  being,  as  they  generally  are,  conscientiously  opposed  to  it.  This,  we 
doubt  not,  the  slave  States  will  be  disposed  to  grant.  It  can  hardly  be  denied,  that  the  people 
ef  the  free  States  have  had  reason  to  feel,  that*  heretofore  they  have  been  made  in  some  degree 
responsible  for  slavery  by  the  action  of  the  Federal  authorities,  by  requirements  made  of  their 

72 


own  State  authorities,  and  in  other  ways.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  results  of  this  kind 
will  be  very  much,  if  not  sati.sl'actorily  relieved,  by  the  operation  of  the  principles  settled  in 
1842  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  the  case  of  Prigg  vs.  the  Commonwealth 
of  Pennsylvania.  That  decision  must  necessarily  be  respected  by  all  parties.  We  have 
assumed,  in  the  former  part  of  this  Tract,  that  the  free  States  are  not  responsible  for  slavery, 
which  we  believe  to  be  sound  doctrine  resulting  from  the  terms  cf  the  Union.  Consequently, 
they  can  not  fairly  be  made  practically  responsible.  Let  this  be  understood  and  acted  upon 
by  all  parties,  and  we  do  not  see  any  insuperable  difliculty  in  maintaining  harmoniously  the 
original  terms  of  the  Union  of  these  States.  All  minor  controverted  questions,  arising  out  of 
slavery,  can  only  be  settled  by  time  and  the  regular  action  of  Constitutional  authorities. 

24.   What  follows. 

By  such  an  adjustment  of  the  slave  question,  which  has  so  long  and  so  greatly  agitated  the 
public  mind  of  this  country,  it  will  follow,  if  we  mistake  not,  that  slavery  must  be  left  where 
the  Constitution  has  placed  it,  on  the  responsibility,  and  under  the  control  of  the  States  in 
which  it  exists.  It  will  also  follow,  that  any  political  action,  originating  in  the  free  States,  to 
act  on  the  slavery  of  slave  States,  will  not  only  be  necessarily  ineffectual,  but  improper  and 
injurious.  It  will  follow,  moreover,  that  a  return  to  the  original  mode  of  action  on  slavery 
for  its  abolition,  by  moral  means,  is  the  only  course,  which  the  opposers  of  slavery  in  the  free 
States,  can  Constitutionally  pursue.  With  this,  will  also  follow  the  hope  of  an  ultimate  attain 
ment  of  the  end.  Manifestly,  there  is  no  hope  for  it  as  a  result  of  political  Abolition  in  the 
free  States.  Every  aspect  of  the  question  has  only  waxed  worse  and  worse,  and  the  end  in 
view  has  been  placed  at  a  farther  remove  by  this  agitation,  as  we  have  before  had  occasion  to 
notice,  and  the  facts  of  which  are  undisputed.  Moral  means  have  heretofore  operated  well. 
They  are  the  means  of  Christianity — means  which  GOD  himself  has  ordained,  benevolent  in 
character,  and  beneficent  in  their  effect. 

25.  The  duty  of  anti-slave  men  in  the  free  States  as  American  citizens. 

They  can  not  of  course  disregard  their  obligations  of  fealty  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  for  any  foreign  object,  however  good  and  meritorious  it  might  be  in  itself  con 
sidered.  It  would  be  equally  proper  for  them  to  violate  the  Constitution  to  suppress  slavery 
in  any  of  the  nations  of  Europe,  or  in  any  other  foreign  parts,  as  to  violate  it  to  suppress 
slavery  in  any  of  the  States  of  this  Union.  As  regards  slavery,  the  States  are  as  independent 
of  each  other,  and  of  the  General  Government,  as  any  two  nations  are  in  their  relations. 

All  citizens  of  the  free  States,  therefore,  who  desire  to  see  an  end  of  slavery  in  this  Union, 
by  Constitutional  means,  can  hardly  have  failed  to  have  their  attention  arrested  by  the  deplo 
rable  spectacle  exhibited  in  the  slave  States,  as  the  result  of  Northern  political  Abolition,  in 
the  putting  back  of  the  work  of  emancipation  so  far  and  so  greatly,  in  destroying  the  better 
feelings  of  masters  toward  their  slaves,  and  in  creating  a  strong  current  of  feeling  in  those 
States  against  any  purpose  or  plan  of  emancipation  whatever.  They  must  have  seen,  that 
political  Abolition  in  the  free  States,  has  committed  an  error,  not  only  of  infinite  magnitude, 
but  of  a  corresponding  responsibility.  As  friends  of  the  slave,  therefore,  as  the  enemies  of 
slavery  in  all  forms,  and  as  good  citizens,  owing  allegiance  to  the  Constitution,  we  think  they 
can  not  fail  to  see  a  line  of  duty  marked  out  to  them,  which  will  induce  them,  not  only  to 
abstain  from  countenancing,  but  to  lend  all  their  influence  in  opposing  so  destructive  and 
hopeless  an  enterprise  as  political  Abolition.  If  a  "  tree  be  known  by  its  fruits/'  the  evi 
dence  of  its  character  in  this  case,  one  would  think,  ought  to  be  deemed  sufficient. 

26.  Indications  of  Providence. 

It  is  the  prerogative  of  Providence  to  bring  good  out  of  evil,  and  out  of  the  evil  actions  ofi 
men.  Observe  the  following  facts  :  1.  Ai'rican  slavery,  in  the  West,  was  begun  by  the  nations 
of  Europe.  2.  Those  very  nations,  including  those  which  sprung  from  them  in  this  Western 
world,  are  now,  for  the  most  part,  acting  in  concert  to  suppress  the  slave  trade.  3.  Christian 
philanthropists,  from  among  these  nations,  are  making  simultaneous  efforts,  to  explore  Africa, 
to  develop  its  resources  and  capabilities,  to  Christianize  and  civilize  its  tribes,  and  to  present 
inducements  for  lawful  commerce.  Witness  the  plans  and  progress  of  African  Colonization 
from  the  United  States,  and  corresponding  labors  in  Great  Britain,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Afri 
can  race.  4.  The  torrid  regions  of  Africa  appear  to  be  the  natural  home  of  the  colored  races, 
and  as  such  constitute  a  Providential  indication  of  the  course  to  be  pursued  by  those  who  seek 
to  elevate  and  establish  them  in  a  social  and  political  standing  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 
5.  Great,  atrocious,  and  indisputable,  as  was  the  crime  of  the  slave  trade,  which  has  justly 
received  the  reprobation  of  all  mankind,  it  has  nevertheless  been  so  overruled  by  Providence, 
that  those  portions  of  the  race  which  have  survived  the  cruelties  and  inhumanities  inflicted, 
have  been  improved  and  elevated  in  a  state  of  slavery.  They  are  the  best  portions  of  the 
race,  and  most  capable  of  doing  good  to  their  brethren,  whenever  a  general  emancipation 
shall  be  eflected.  6.  The  slaves  of  the  United  States  are  the  best  and  most  capable  portions 

73 


10 

of  the  race  anywhere  to  be  found.  7.  And  consequently,  the  crime  of  man,  for  which  neither 
defence,  nor  palliation,  can  be  made,  may  be  overruled  by  Providence  for  the  general  good 
of  the  race,  when  a  plan  of  universal  emancipation  shall  be  perfected  and  carried  out.  That 
the  tendencies  of  human  society  are  in  that  direction,  is  sufficiently  evident.  To  retard  this 
movement,  by  attempting  to  precipitate  the  event  with  violent  means,  is  what  we  object  to. 

Believing  in  the  progress  of  society,  we  may  see,  in  this  great  circle  of  Providence,  an 
apparent  preparation  for  the  social  elevation  and  political  independence  of  the  African  race. 
This  grand  result,  however,  can  not  be  forced.  A  race  so  debased  as  the  African  tribes  were, 
when  they  themselves,  in  barbarous  warfare,  made  captives  of  each  other,  for  purposes  of 
trade,  and  thus  originated  this  public  mart  of  their  own  flesh  and  blood,  were  never  known 
to  be  raised  to  the  highest  conditions  of  man's  earthly  existence  in  a  brief  period. 

If  the  United  States  were  one  State,  a  political  movement  for  the  emancipation  of  slaves, 
might  be  hopeful  of  good.  It  is  still  so  in  any  component  parts  of  the  slave  States.  But  any 
movement  of  this  kind,  foreign  to  those  States,  designed  to  act  upon  them,  will  of  course  be 
regarded  as  an  interference,  in  view  of  the  terms  of  the  Union,  and  thus,  by  moral  causes, 
thrust  in  by  force  upon  the  surface  of  society,  this  great  movement  of  Providence,  gradually 
tnd  constantly  developing,  in  favor  of  the  African  race,  is  arrested  and  put  backward. 

27.  The  best  judges. 

It  is  very  uncharitable,  and  not  less  injurious  to  the  cause  of  emancipation,  for  those  who 
know  nothing  of  slavery  by  experience  or  observation,  to  undertake  to  dictate  to  slaveholders 
how  they  shall  act.  It  is  injurious,  because  they  who  give  this  advice,  have  no  power  of 
oontrol,  and  it  is  only  regarded  as  an  interference.  It  is  uncharitable  to  condemn  slaveholders 
in  the  mass,  because  a  large  portion  of  them  solemnly  aver,  apparently  in  all  good  conscience, 
tfcat  they  look  upon  slavery  as  an  evil,  and  desire  to  see  an  end  of  it,  but  are  deterred  from 
immediate  emancipation  by  considerations  of  humanity  to  the  slaves  themselves.  The  sweep 
ing  and  indiscriminate  denunciations  of  Abolitionists  on  all  slaveholders,  have  a  pernicious 
effect  on  those  who  are  favorable  to  emancipation.  They  know,  at  least  they  think,  that 
davery,  as  a  question  of  moral  casuistry  between  themselves  and  God,  is  one  which  can  not 
be.  fairly  adjudicated  by  those  who  know  nothing  about  it. 

28.   Where  the  power  lies. 

It  is  manifest  from  what  has  been  said,  that  the  power  of  emancipation  is  vested  exclusively 
in:  the  slave  Slates,  as  far  as  respects  slavery  in  their  own  bounds. 

29.  Northern  Abolition  inhuman. 

We  do  not  mean  that  it  is  so  by  design,  but  in  effect.  Doubtless  the  design  is  quite  the  con 
trary.  But  the  effect,  as  we  have  seen,  and  as  all  eyes  must  observe,  is  to  put  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  emancipation,  and  to  defer  the  day  to  an  unknown  period.  The  way  in  which 
Northern  political  Abolition  has  been  managed,  is  the  unkindest  thing  that  could  be  done  for 
the  slave,  and  most  subversive  of  the  cause  of  humanity,  because  they  have  no  power  in  th« 
ease,  by  such  weapons,  except  to  do  harm  to  the  cause  which  they  profess  to  espouse. 

30.  The  most  effective  way. 

The  moral  position  of  the  free  States,  eschewing  slavery,  and  denouncing  it,  side  by  side  as 
they  stand  with  the  slave  States,  and  members  of  the  same  great  national  family,  is  one  of  great 
fiarce,  and  can  not  fail  of  its  influence,  on  a  large  scale,  and  with  great  effect.  Recognising 
tie  limit  of  their  power  for  political  action,  as  defined  by  the  Constitution,  they  are  then  at 
liberty  to  employ  all  moral  and  social  influences,  by  speech  and  the  press,  which  private 
citizens  may  choose  to  put  and  keep  in  action.  In  that  course,  they  would  find  numerous 
allies  in  the  slave  States,  and  among  slaveholders,  as  formerly. 

34.  The  moral  influence  of  the  antislave  feeling  in  the  free  States  is  suppressed,  by  the  existence 
of  political  Abolition  in  the  North. 

Wot  only  so,  but  the  tendency  of  the  controversy  raised  by  it,  is  to  abate  this  feeling  of 
antipathy  and  opposition  to  slavery.  It  is  the  natural  feeling  of  the  free  States,  and  ought  to 
be  cherished  by  them.  But  while  they  are  obliged  to  contend  against  political  Abolitionists, 
they  are  in  danger  of  imbibing  a  feeling  of  toleration  toward  slavery  itself.  In  the  meantime, 
their  moral  influence  against  slavery  is  almost  necessarily  suspended.  It  is  hardly  possible  for 
them  to  act  in  this  field,  as  formerly,  lest  they  should  be  suspected  or  accused  of  alliance  with 
political  Abolitionists;  so  that  the  effect  of  political  Abolition  is  not  confined  to  the  positive 
injury  it  is  constantly  doing,  by  putting  obstacles  in  the  way  of  emancipation,  in  the  slave 
States ;  but  it  puts  a  stop  to  the  cause  of  emancipation  in  all  forms,  and  in  all  quarters,  and 
suspends,  for  the  time  being,  nearly  all  action  and  influence  of  the  entire  anti-slavery  phalanx 
of  the  Union.  They  can  do  nothing,  while  these  mischief  workers  are  in  the  field ;  but  orto 
forced  to  be  employed  in  preventing  the  evil  of  their  machinations. 

74, 
<• « 


11 

32.  Republican  inconsistency — American  Declaration  of  Independence. 

The  following  clause  of  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence  : — "  We  hold  these  truths 
to  be  self-evident — That  all  men  are  created  equal;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  witk 
certain  inalienable  rights ;  that  among  them  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit,  of  happiness" — 
is  often  quoted,  in  the  ears  of  Americans,  with  the  ringer  pointed  to  American  slavery ;  nor 
can  it  be  denied,  that  the  principles  here  announced,  are  a  condemnation  of  the  fact. 
Nevertheless,  the  purpose  for  which  that  Declaration  was  framed,  and  the  object  to  which  it 
was  then  applied,  was  simply  to  deny  the  divine  right  of  kings,  and  the  claimed  prerogatives 
of  high  birth,  and  to  assert  and  establish  the  right  of  a  people  .to  govern  themselves.  That 
the  principles  here  stated  are  more  comprehensive  than  this,  there  is  no  doubt,  and  that  they 
^pply  to  slavery  anywhere,  must  also  be  admitted.  But  there  is  no  inconsistency  in  this  De- 
daration,  as  it  was  applied  by  those  who  framed  and  adopted  it,  they  having  exclusive  regard 
to  the  relations  of  the  Colonies  to  the  British  Crown,  and  to  the  tyranny  of  the  latter  over  th« 
former. 

Thomas  Jefferson,  the  Author  of  the  Declaration,  professed  to  be  an  emancipationist.  His 
views  on  slavery  were  frequently  and  freely  expressed,  and  the  following  passage  in  his  original 
draft  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  not  adopted,  will  show  where  he  put  the  blame: — 
"  He"  (the  king)  "  has  waged  cruel  war  against  human  nature  itself,  violating  its  most  sacred 
lights  of  life  and  liberty,  in  the  persons  of  a  distant  people,  who  never  offended  him,  captivating 
and  carrying  them  into  slavery  in  another  hemisphere,  or  to  incur  a  miserable  death  in  their 
transportation  thither.  This  piratical  warfare,  the  opprobrium  of  infidel  powers,  is  the  warfare 
of  the  CHRISTIAN  king  of  Great  Britain.  Determined  to  keep  open  a  market  where  MEN 
should  be  bought  and  sold,  he  has  prostituted  his  negative  for  suppressing  every  legislative 
attempt  to  prohibit  or  to  restrain  this  execrable  commerce.  And  that  this  assemblage 'of 
horrors  might  want  no  fact  of  distinguished  dye,  he  is  now  exciting  those  very  people  to  ris« 
in  arms  against  us,  and  to  purchase  that  liberty  of  which  he  has  deprived  them,  by  murdering 
the  people  upon  whom  he  also  obtruded  them — thus  paying  oft'  former  crimes  committed  against 
the  liberties  of  one  people,  with  crimes  which  he  urges  them  to  commit  against  the  lives  of 
another." 

Mr.  Jefferson  also  took  the  first  opportunity,  after  the  separation,  and  during  the  war,  to 
cause  an  act  to  be  passed  in  the  Virginia  legislature,  to  prohibit  the  importation  of  slaves. 
And  the  other  slave  States  followed  the  example. 

33.  Slavery  a  wrong. 

Slavery  is  undoubtedly  a  wrong  done  to  the  natural  rights  of  those  enslaved,  and  the  earliest 
possible  emancipation,  when  unable  to  gain  their  own  freedom,  will  be  contrived  and  effected 
for  them  by  those  who  appreciate  the  value  of  the  right.  But  when  it  is  to  be  effected  by 
offices  of  mediation,  it  is  a  moral  enterprise,  and  the  muster  is  to  be  consulted.  If  it  is  to  t» 
done  by/oree,  it  is  a  political  enterprise,  and  the  cost  must  be  counted. 

34.  But  the  wrong  should  be  righted,  and  righted  now. 

That  it  should  be  righted,  we  agree ;  but  that  righting  it  now,  will  itself  be  right,  is  a 
question;  and  that  may  depend  on  many  other  questions.  1.  It  may  depend  on  who  did  th» 
wrong.  If  he  can  be  found,  it  is  doubtless  incumbent  on  him  to  set  about  righting  it  instantly. 
2.  If  he  can  not  be  found,  the  question  is,  who  is  to  act  as  his  substitute  ?  3.  It  may  depend 
on  the  present  condition  of  the  subject  of  the  wrong.  4.  In  any  case,  it  depends  on  who  is  to 
undertake  it.  As  a  crusade,  it  might  be  a  wrong  interference.  5.  As  to  the  great,  complicated, 
stupendous  question  of  slavery,  questions  equally  great,  complicated,  and  stupendous,  are  ift- 
volved  in  its  abolition. 

35.  The  Buffalo  Abolition  Convention — Their  Manifesto. 

In  August,  1843,  a  national  Convention  of  political  Abolitionists  assembled  at  Buffalo,  N. 
Y.,  and  nominated  a  President  and  Vice  President  of  the  United  States,  to  be  voted  for  i* 
1844,  at  which  time  they  published  the  following  Manifesto,  as  their  latest  creed,  which,  we 
suppose,  is  the  best  authority  : 

"  Whereas,  The  Constitution  of  these  United  States  is  a  series  of  agreements,  covenants,  or  contracts  be 
tween^  the  people  of  the  United  States,  each  with  all  and  all  with  each  ;  and 

"  Whereas,  it  is  a  principle  of  universal  morality,  that  the  moral  laws  of  the  Creator  are  paramount  to  aM 
turnan  laws  ;  or,  in  the  language  of  the  Apostle,  that  "  we  ought  to  obey  God  rather  than  rnen  ;"  and 

"  Whereas,  the,  third  clause  of  the  second  section  of  the  fourth  article  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
btates,— -when  construed  as  providing  for  the  surrender  of  a  fugitive  slave— does  "rest  upon  such  a  basis.* 
In  that  it  is  a  contract  to  rob  a  man  of  a  natural  right— namely,  his  natural  right  to  his  own  liberty  ;  and.  to 
therefore,  absolutely  void— 

"Therefore,  Resolved,  That  we  hereby  give  it  to  be  distinctly  understood,  by  this  nation  and  the  world, 
*at,as  Abolitionists,  considering  that  the  strength  of  our  cause  lies  in  its  righteousness,  and  our  hope  for 
U  m  our  con  ormity  to  the  LAWS  OF  GOD  and  our  respect  for  the  RIGHTS  OP  MAN,  we  owe  it  to  the  Sovereign 
ttuler  of  the  Universe  as  a  proof  of  our  allegiance  to  Him,  in  all  our  civil  relations  and  offices,  whether 
*»  private  citizens,  or  as  public  functionaries  .sworn  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  State**  to 

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and  to  treat  the  third  clause  of  the  fourth  article  of  that  instrument,  whenever  applied  to  the  ca««« 
of  a  fugitive  slave,  as  utterly  null  and  void,  and  consequently,  as  forming  no  part  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  whenever  we  are  called  upon,  or  sworn,  to  support  it." 

As  we  are  not  in  controversy  with  these  gentlemen  as  to  the  validity  of  the  claim  of  the 
slave  to  his  emancipation,  we  fully  according  thereunto,  but  only  as  to  their  mode  of  accom 
plishing  the  end,  and  also  as  to  the  ground  on  which  this  document  asserts  the  claim,  we  ask 
attention  to  a  few  remarks  on  the  Manifesto  itself. 

It  must  be  confessed,  that  this  is  an  extraordinary,  and  a  somewhat  startling  document 
How  the  conscientious  men  of  their  party  will  be  al>le  to  digest  the  Resolution  that  sets  aside  a 
part  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  pronouncing  it  "  utterly  null  awl  void,"  which, 
indeed,  annihilates  it,  "as  forming  no  part  of  the  Constitution,"  is  more  than  we  can  say. 
It  is  manifest,  that  a  right  to  strike  out  this  part,  is  a  right  to  strike  away  the  whole ;  and  so 
far  as  we  can  see,  the  blow  at  this  part,  is  a  blow  at  the  whole.  We  can  not  feel  it  is  too 
much  to  say,  that  that  sacred  and  venerable  Charter  of  our  Government,  the  cost  of  which 
shook  this  Continent  and  shook  the  world,  is  here  taken  in  hand,  cast  upon  the  ground,  and 
stamped  upon,  as  of  no  worth  and  no  authority. 

The  reasoning  by  which  this  act  is  justified,  is  no  less  extraordinary.  The  whole  transaction 
is  based  on  the  authority  of  religion^  as  interpreted  by  the  actors,  and  invokes  its  hi«hesl 
sanction,  "  the  Sovereign  Ruler  of  the  Universe."  It  is  true,  that  another  element  of 
authority  is  picked  up,  by  going  back  to  a  supposed  state  of  man  before  he  enters  into  society, 
commonly  called  "  the  state  of  nature,"  out  of  which  grow  "  natural  laws,"  and  "  natural 
rights  ;"  but  religion  is  the  foundation,  superstructure,  and  finish  of  the  whole.  We  will  first 
dispose  of  the  profane  part  of  the  argument,  or  the  law  of  nature  part. 

Let  it  be  observed,  that  we  do  not  undertake  to  disprove,  that  man  has  "  natural  rights," 
or  that  the  claim  of  a  slave  to  freedom  is  a  valid  one,  both  of  which  we  fully  accord  to.  We 
only  wonder,  that  a  conclusion  of  such  tremendous  consequence,  as  that  arrived  at  in  this 
document,  should  have  no  other  profane  authority  (profane  in  distinction  from  sacred/  brought 
to  its  support,  than  the  undefined  rule  of  "  natural  right." 

"  The  law  of  nature,"  says  Blackstone,  "  is  the  will  of  God."  Justinian  says,  "  it  is  to 
live  honestly."  Blackslone's  comment  on  this,  is,  "  not  to  injure  society."  "  The  founda- 
turn"  of  natural  law,  Blackstone  says,  is,  "  that  man  should  pursue  his  own  true  and  sub 
stantial  happiness,"  which,  he  adds,  is  "  the  substance  of  the  law  of  God."  He  also  says, 
that  "  to  know  the  law  of  nature,  it  is  necessary  to  have  recourse  to  reason ;"  but  he  adds, 
as  man's  "  reason  is  corrupt,  and  his  understanding  full  of  ignorance  and  error,"  "  immediate 
and  direct  revelation,  to  be  found  only  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,"  is  to  be  consulted. 

NATHAN  DANE,  the  great  American  jurist,  speaks  of  "  the  laws  of  nature  and  reason, 
made  by  God  himself."  "  The  law  of  nature,"  he  says,  "  is  a  perfect  rule,  but  is  understood' 
only  by  a  right  use,  of  reason."  "A  state  of  nature,"  he  says,  "  wants  a  common  judge," 
which  society  sets  up.  Again : — "  Civil  laws  are  those  of  nature  modified  and  perfected." 
Again  : —  "  A  state  of  nature  is  a  state  of  despotism  and  wretchedness,"  because,  "  if  one  may 
do  as  he  pleases,  another  may,  and  each  is  his  own  judge,  and  judges  the  Judges."  He  says  that 
justice  in  this  way  is  obtained,  "  not  probably  more  than  once  in  twenty  cases."  Again : — 
"  In  a  state  of  nature,  heated  and  passionate  men  are  the  judges."  "  Hence,"  he  says,  "  it 
is  easy  to  see  how  much  this  poor  free  man's  liberty,  so  much  extolled  by  some,  is  worth  to 
him,  on  the  whole." 

We  have  made  these  quotations,  merely  to  show  what  an  indefinite  and  unsettled  rule  the  law 
of  nature  is.  The  more  we  cite  legal  authorities  to  this  point,  the  more  we  shall  be  puzzled. 
They  themselves  don't  pretend  to  understand  it.  Like  sensible  men,  they  set  themselves  to 
determine  what  law  is  as  fixed  by  society,  and  they  know  no  other.  That  there  are  "  natural 
rights,"  which  men  may  be  compelled  to  resort  to  on  emergencies,  there  is  no  doubt ;  but,  in 
stead  of  being  the  best,  or  even  good  authority,  in  the  social  state,  they  are  the  worst  and 
most  dangerous  possible.  They  are  for  extremities,  as  a  necessity,  not  for  common  use.  The 
result  of  the  whole  is,  as  stated  above,  by  Mr.  Done—tlmt  "  civil  laws  are  those  of  nature 
modified  and  perfected."  The  aims  of  the  structure  of  civil  jurisprudence  have  been,  to  as 
certain,  as  well  as  could  be,  the  law  of  nature,  so  called,  by  a  general  concurrence  of  opinion, 
and  with  Christian  jurists,  as  Blackstone  above  intimates,  by  consulting  "  an  immediate  and  di 
rect  revelation,"  the  Bible.  The  best  authority,  therefore,  is  not  to  go  back  to  a  state  of  nature 
— for  that  is  where  man  first  began,  and  is,  as  Mr.  Dane  above  says,  "  a  state  of  despotism  and 
wretchedness;" — but  it  is  to  consult  that  system  of  jurisprudence,  which  the  wisdom  and  jus 
tice  of  many  ages,  and  the  most  civilized  and  Christion  nations,  have  established. 

A  man  alone  in  the  world,  in  a  state  of  nature,  would  doubtless  have  a  right — call  it  "nat 
ural,"  if  you  please — to  anything  he  can  lay  his  hand  upon — a  right  to  go  where  he  pleases, 
and  do  what  he  pleases,  except  as  his  Creator  might  command  otherwise.  But  the  moment 
he  enters  into  society,  this  liberty,  or  system  of  natural  rights,  is  abridged,  while  other  rights 
are  multiplied  ;  and  if  the  state  of  society  is  good,  his  newly-acquired  rights  are  more  valua- 

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ble.  His  former  liberty,  or  natural  rights,  yield  to  the  regulations  of  society ;  and  we  can  not 
think  of  any  one  of  them  which  may  not  be  affected,  or  even  taken  away,  by  such  regula 
tions.  The  right  to  breathe,  for  example,  is  the  strongest  of  all  natural  rights ;  but  society 
assumes  the  right  to  stop  a  man's  breath  by  hanging,  if  his  acts  should  expose  him  to  such 
a  sentence  of  the  law.  We  can  not  conceive  of  a  government  of  law,  which  recognises  any 
jr  other  authority  than  that  of  the  laws  themselves,  in  determining  social  rights.  They  may  be 
right,  or  they  may  be  wrong.  Nevertheless,  while  they  exist,  they  are  the  rule.  To  oppose 
them,  is  rebellion  ;  to  live  without  law,  is  anarchy  ;  or  what  Mr  Dane  calls  the  "despotism 
and  wretchedness  of  a  state  of  nature."  To  give  "  natural  rights"  as  authority  to  resist 
law,  is  the  most  indefinite  rule,  and  the  most  dangerous  authority,  that  could  be  adduced. 

And  yet,  let  it  be  observed,  that  "  natural  right"  is  the  only  authority,  on  which  this  Buffalo 

Abolition  Convention  Manifesto  is  founded  !     It  is  first  assumed,  then  merged  in  religion,  ancf 

*'  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  Universe"  is  made  responsible  for  the  result !     He  is  appealed  to, 

his  sanction  is  invoked,  and  it  is  all  done  in  his  name  !     The  whole  of  it,  from  beginning  to 

'  «nd,  is  a  religious  business,  based  on  a  religions  sentiment !     Read  it,  and  judge. 

36.  The  proper  rule. 

We  take  the  settled  and  definite,  opinions  of  mankind,  as  collected  and  recorded  in  the  most 
approved  systems  of  civil  jurisprudence,  and  as  established  in  the  most  free  Governments  and 
most  liberal  institutions  of  human  society,  to  establish  the  claim  of  the  slave  to  his  freedom. 
These  are  recognised  authorities,  from  which  nobody  can  escape.  The  American  Declaration, 
of,  Independence  alone  is  sufficient.  And  we  take  these  established  principles,  to  work  with 
them  by  ways  and  means  equally  well  established.  Here  is  the  essential,  the  vital,  the  mo 
mentous  point,  in  which  we  differ  from  political  Abolitionists. 

37.  Church  and  State. 

There  is  not  a  more  religious  people  in  the  world,  than  we  of  the  United  States;  yet  no 
people  have  been  more  scrupulous,  by  their  State  papers,  by  practical  legislation,  and  by 
general  feeling,  in  separating  religion  from  a  participation  in  the  authorities  of  State.  They 
give  full  scope  to  the  moral  influence  of  religion,  but  jealously  deny  to  it  political  power. 
If  there  be  any  one  principle  more  firmly  settled  in  the  public  mind  of  this  country,  or  better  e»- 
tablished,  by  universal  consent,  and  with  fixed  purpose,  than  another,  or  all  others,  we  think  it  is, 

THAT  KELIGION  SHALL  NOT  USURP  AUTHORITY   IN  THE  AFFAIRS  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

38.  Political  Abolition  a  religious  movement. 

Look  at  this  Buffalo  Manifesto.  Is  it  not  a  religious  document  ?  "  The  moral  laws  of  the 
Creator  are  paramount  to  all  human  laws;"  "  we  ought  to  obey  God,  rather  than  man;" 
"  considering  that,  as  Abolitionists,  the  strength  of  our  cause  lies  in  its  righteousness,  and 
our  hope  for  it  in  our  conformity  to  the  laws  of  God  ;"  "  we  owe  it  to  the  Sovereign  Ruler  of 
the  Universe,  as  a  proof  of  our  allegiance  to  Him,"  &c.,  "  to  regard  and  to  treat  the  third 
clause  of  the  fourth  Article  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,"  &c.,  "a*  utterly  null 
and  void,"  &c.  Is  not  religion  the  rule,  the  sanction,  the  everything  involving  responsi 
bility  in  this  transaction  ?  Nor  is  it  a  declaration  of  principles  to  suffer,  but  of  principles  to 
act ;  nor  of  submission,  but  of  aggression ;  nor  for  the  use  of  moral  means  alone,  but  to  take 
hold  on  political  power ;  they  are  a  political  party,  and  were  at  that  moment  assembled  to 
nominate  a  President  and  Vice  President  of  the  U,nited  States  ! 

Men,  making  the  highest  religious  pretensions,  have  taken  lead,  and  are  at  the  head  of  the 
movement;  numerous  religious  papers  are  employed  to  advocate  it ;  a  large  corps  of  religious 
missionaries  are  in  the  field  to  preach  it ;  numerous  churches  and  pulpits  are  chiefly  devoted 
to  it,  and  are  thence  called  Abolition  Churches  ;  its  most  religious  Champion,  Mr.  Gerritt 
Smith,  has  publicly  announced,  that  he  will  go  forth,  and  preach  the  doctrine  in  Christian 
pulpits,  on  the  Christian  Sabbath ;  and  religion  everywhere  is  the  high  and  holy  sanction 
relied  upon  to  enforce  the  doctrine.  Nearly  all  the  political  Abolitionists,  and  with  scarcely 
an  exception,  all  the  abolition  preachers,  lecturers,  and  missionaries,  are  religious  men.  It 
is,  indeed,  a  proper  religious  enterprise.  In  this  statement  we  have  disclosed  A  GREAT,  IMPOR 
TANT,  MOMENTOUS  FACT. 

39.  Confession  of  a  leading  Abolitionist. 

Since  we  published  the  first  edition  of  this  Tract,  we  have  had  a  conversation  with  a  leading 
Abolitionist,  than  whom  no  one  has  been  more  prominent  or  more  influential  as  such.  He 
expressed  a  wish,  that  we  would  make  some  alterations  in  this  sheet,  for  greater  good,  as  we 
have  done.  We  were  surprised  at  the  interest  he  took  in  it,  and  are  only  sorry  we  could  not 
follow  his  advice  in  all  its  extent.  He  said,  "The  Abolitionists,  as  a  body,  are  honest  people, 
BUT  THEIR  LEADERS  ARE  CORRUPT  AND  UNPRINCIPLED."  We  were  startled  at  this,  coming 
from  such  a  source ;  but  he  repeated  with  emphasis : — "  THE  LEADERS  ARE  CORRUPT  AND 
UNPRINCIPLED.''  We  were  forced  to  believe,  that  such  was  his  conviction,  and  that  no  man 
knew  better.  It  was  said  so  seriously,  so  emphatically,  and  apparently  with  such  honesty  of 

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purpose,  that  we  have  taken  the  liberty  to  think,  he  would  not  object,  that  the  public  should 
be  aware  of  it. 

40.  "  We  must  obey  God  rather  than  man." 

So  says  the  Buffalo  Manifesto,  having  assumed  the  thing  to  be  proved,  viz  :  that  God  com* 
mands  it.  It  is  obvious  there  is  no  answer  to  this  reason,  or  no  reasoning  with  such  persons, 
if  they  think  they  have  such  authority.  If  they  could  prove  their  mission  by  miracles,  it 
would  be  sufficient ;  but  as  this  is  only  tlieir  opinion,  a  sentiment  of  their  own,  the  conscience  of 
those  who  think  otherwise,  is  at  least  as  good  as  theirs,  and  worthy  of  as  much  respect* 
Other  Christians,  ami  the  great  majority  think,  that  God  has  not  commanded  this;  that,  in 
the  days  of  the  Apostles,  when  the  state  of  political  society  was  a  great  deal  worse  than  it  i$ 
now,  anJ  slavery  far  worse  and  more  extensive,  as  history  attests,  not  only  was  submission  to 
"  the  powers  that  be,"  enjoined  on  all  Christians,  even  to  martyrdom,  but  "servants"  (slaves) 
were  commanded  "  to  obey  their  masters  in  all  things ;"  that  St.  Paul  sent  back  Onesimus, 
*  fugitive  slave,  to  his  master,  Philemon,  to  be  treated  according  to  his  will,  thereby  recogni 
sing  Philemon's  authority  in  the  case ;  that  the  Apostles  not  only  had  a  special  authority  by 
immediate  revelation  from  God  in  regard  to  the  matters  referred  to  when  they  said,  "  We 
ought  to  obey  God  rather  than  man,"  but  that  they  did  not  say  this  as  a  reason  for  disobey 
ing  existing  regulations  of  society ;  that  both  Christ  and  his  Apostles  were  most  scrupulous 
observers  of  all  such  regulations,  and  could  always  defend  themselves  on  that  ground ;  that 
the  duty  of  such  submission  to  such  authorities  is  paramount  to  man's  individual  right  to 
arraign  the  law ;  that  obedience  to  civil  society  results  from  Divine  command  ;  that  political 
•ociety,  as  it  exists  at  any  time,  in  any  place,  is  "  the  ordinance  of  God,"  requiring  our  sub 
mission  ;  that  God's  government,  or  Christ's  kingdom  is  moral,  in  distinction  from  the  political 
edifices  of  man ;  and  that  the  design  of  Christianity  is  to  avail  itself  of  the  order  of  political 
•ociety,  without  being  responsible  for  its  defects,  to  set  all  things  right,  by  making  all  hearts 
good.  Hence,  as  they  think,  the  scrupulous  care  and  frequent  injunctions  of  Christ  and  his 
Apostles  not  to  disturb  society,  as  its  peace  and  order  are  necessary  to  accomplish  the  aims  of 
Christianity. 

41.  j3  Deduction. 

If  the  above  thoughts  are  correct — we  believe  "they  are — it  will  follow,  that  no  man  can, 
with  propriety  or  good  reason,  invoke  Divine  authority  to  justify  a  use  of  political  power  in  up>- 
setting  political  society,  or  reforming  the  State.  If  a  Christian  employs  political  power  to 
attain  what  he  thinks  desirable  in  the  State,  he  does  it  as  a  member  of  the  political  common 
wealth,  and  not  as  being  on  a  mission  from  God,  armed  with  a  Divine  command,  imperative 
on  himself,  and  which  he  may  proclaim  as  imperative  on  all  others.  No  Christian,  in  our 
view,  is  authorized  to  invoke  such  a  Divine  sanction  for  such  an  act.  It  is,  if  we  mistake 
not,  identical  with  the  principle,  which  we,  as  American  citizens  and  American  freemen,  in 
our  organization  of  political  society,  have  very  distinctly  and  very  emphatically  repudiated, 
viz  :  the  authority  of  religion  in  the  State  and  over  it.  And  yet,  as  all  will  see,  this  is  pre 
cisely  the  sanction  of  the  Buffalo  Manifesto,  and  precisely  the  principle  on  which  that  docu 
ment  is  founded.  The  American  people  have  solemnly  resolved  and  declared,  against  the 
usurpation  of  authority  in  the  State  by  religion.  And  yet,  here  it  is,  sprung  upon  us  by  sur 
prise,  by  the  public  act  of  a  public  Convention,  with  the  declared  object  of  overrunning  and 
revolutionizing  the  State,  and  the  first  stef)  taken  has  been  to  plant  its  foot  on  the  Supreme 
law  of  the  land,  proclaiming  a  part  of  it,  "  to  this  nation  and  to  the  world,"  "  AS  UTTKRLY 

NULL  AND  VOID" "  ABSOLUTELY  VOID  !" 

42.  The  actual  junction  of  religion  and  political  power. 

They  have  organized  as  a  party  on  the  platform  of  this  religiose-political  creed  ;  they  have 
nominated  a  President  and  Vice  President  of  the  United  States  ;  they  have  gone  forth  into  the 
field,  established  presses,  opened  churches,  and  set  up  pulpits ;  they  have  an  army  of  agents 
and  missionaries ;  their  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  himself  acting  as  an  agent  and  mission 
ary,  boasted  in  Faneuil  Hall,  Boston,  that  they  had  increased  from  7,000  in  1839,  to  35,000 
in  1843;  and  that  it  is  an  actual  junction  of  religion  and  political  power,  appears  from  the 
facts,  that  religion  is  the  sentiment,  and  the  machinery  of  State  the  means  employed  to  accom 
plish  the  end.  If  we  rightly  understand  the  essential  elements  of  Church  and  State  united, 
apart  from  the  accidents  of  form,  this  appears  to  be  the  thing.  It  comprises  the  most  potent 
agencies  of  the  kind  recognised  in  history,  as  it  takes  hold  of  the  fundamental  power  of  th« 
State,  and  would  sweep  all  before  it,  when  once  it  shall  have  gained  the  ascendency. 
43.  The  Abolition  Church. 

It  is  the  party,  and  the  party  is  a  religious  brotherhood.  They  have  one  creed,  one  faith, 
one  baptism.  To  all  others  intolerant  and  denunciatory,  they  regard  themselves  as  the  only 
pure  Church.  They  call,  not  only  their  political,  but  their  religious  opponents,  "  a  brotherhood 
of  thieves."  "  manstealers,"  «  robbers,"  «  murderers,"  «  adulterers,"  « liars,"  « infidels,"  &c. 

78 


15 

ff  e  take  these  epithets,  thus  bestowed,  as  they  come  from  their  presses,  and  are  heard  frttta 
t^eir  pulpits. 

44.  This  the  only  mode  by  which  Church  and  State  can  be  united  in  this  country. 

If  it  is  to  come  at  all,  it  will  not  come  in  the  forms  heretofore  known  in  history,  but  it  wilt 
steal  upon  us.  The  old  form  would  be  instantly  recognised,  and  reprobated.  But,  to  succeed, 
it  must  take  a  form  corresponding  with  the  popular  modes  of  action  in  American  society. 
Can  anything  be  nearer  to  it  than  this  ?  It  is  the  very  model,  the  perfect  type  of  our  social 
system,  in  an  original  popular  movement.  It  is  nothing  more,  nothing  less,  but  the  very 
thing.  We  have  only  to  ask,  what  is  the  element  of  this  movement  ?  Is  it  religion  ?  Or  is  it 
not  ?  If  it  is,  then  it  is  Church  and  State,  and  an  attempt  to  unite  the  two. 
45.  This  would  be  a  fearful  power,  if  it  should  prevail. 

It  is  a  power  that  mounts  the  hobby  of  one  principle  to  ride  over  all  others — a  sword  that 
cuts  all  ties,  however  sacred,  for  the  sake  of  cutting  one  admitted  to  be  bad.  They  do  not 
consider,  that  the  great  principles  of  the  moral  and  social  system  are  numerous,  all  having 
{heir  respective  claims,  and  that,  like  men  in  society,  they  modify  each  other,  in  their  practical 
application ;  but  they  take  one  out  from  all  the  rest,  and  propound  it  as  an  abstraction  to  gov 
ern  the  world— to  break  down  every  other  that  comes  in  its  way. 

It  is  no  disparagement  to  state  the  well-known  fact,  that  all  religious  sects  have  their  fa 
vorite  opinions,  and  often  one  favorite  opinion.  Holding  them  dear,  they  of  course  wish  to  see 
them  reduced  to  practice,  and  if  they  had  the  power,  they  would  not  only  urge  them  elo 
quently,  but,  preadventure,  would  enforce  them  rigorously.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  religion  is 
held  to  be  a  dangerous  power  in  the  State — certainly  so,  until  we  can  be  sure  that  the  opin 
ions  adopted  are  sound.  If  a  favorite  opinion  of  a  religious  sect  is  unsound,  and  if  it  is  to  be 
come  a  hobby  in  power,  to  be  enforced  any  how,  and  by  whatever  means,  it  then  becomes  a  ter 
rible  power.  History  exhibits  too  melancholy  a  record  of  devastations  wrought  in  society  by 
this  cause,  not  to  be  a  solemn  warning. 

46.    A  difference  between  religion  and  true  religion. 

There  are  a  thousand,  not  to  say  ten  thousand  religions  in  the  world,  but  only  one  that  is  true  ; 
•and  there  are  forms  of  Christianity  by  no  means  free  from  error.  As  a  general  rule,  the  mor« 
intolerant,  fierce,  and  bloody  a  religion  is,  the  farther  is  it  from  the  pure  religion  of  a  pure 
Christianity.  Is  not  political  abolition  intolerant  ?  Is  it  not  fierce  ?  And  who  will  say, 
fhat,  in  all  its  tendencies,  it  is  not  rushing  onward  to  the  opening  of  rivers  and  seas  ot 
Wood  ? 

47.  The  duty  of  all  true  Christians  in  regard  to  this  movement. 

The  time  is  coming,  has  come,  when  religion,  in  the  face  and  in  violation  of  the  American 
political  creed  and  of  American  fundamental  political  law,  is  to  be  made  responsible  for  an 
attempt  to  usurp  the  powers  of  State.  It  behooves  all  true  Christians  among  us,  to  see,  that 
Christianity  is  not  held  responsible  for  this.  Christianity,  rightly  interpreted  and  properly 
understood,  can  not,  in  our  view,  be  responsible  for  it.  We  do  not  deny,  on  the  contrary  we 
admit  and  believe,  that  many  true  Christians,  with  sincere  and  conscientious  minds,  have  been 
and  are  being  persuaded  into  the  ranks  of  this  religioso-political  sect,  and  that  it  is  chiefly 
effected  by  an  appeal  to  their  religious  feelings.  They  are  persuaded  to  believe  things  which 
are  not  true,  and  they  listen  to  interpretations  of  Divine  command,  which  are  unwarranted 
in  the  application  that  is  made  of  them.  The  line  of  demarcation  between  "  rendering  unto 
Caesar  the  things  that  are  Cesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's,"  is  effaced  from  their 
minds  by  the  doctrines  they  read  in  abolition  papers,  and  hear  from  abolition  pulpits,  and  they 
lose  sight  of  that  great  and  fundamental  principle  of  American  institutions,  equally  impor 
tant  and  equally  precious  to  all  freemen  and  to  all  religious  sects,  viz :  that  religion  shall  not 
have  authority  in  the  State,  and  may  not  usurp  it.  They  are  told,  that  "we  ought  to  obey 
God  rather  than  man  ;" — but  they  are  not  told  that  one  part  of  such  obedience  is  to  "submit 
to  the  powers  that  be,"  that  is,  to  the  ordinances  of  civil  society.  The  very  precept  that  is 
invoked  to  lead  them  astray,  is  most  directly  in  point  to  keep  them  right.  They  do  not  see, 
for  the  time  being,  though  they  may  afterward  see  it  with  regret  and  sorrow,  that  religion, 
taking  hold  of  the  machinery  of  Slate,  as  religion,  is  entirely  out  of  place,  not  only  in  regard 
to  the  design  of  our  political  institutions,  but  equally  so  in  regard  to  the  design  of  Christian 
ity.  The  latter,  in  maintaining  the  character  of  a  "  kingdom  not  of  this  world,"  has  a  loftier 
mission,  and  more  universal  functions,  than  to  raise  a  conflict  with  political  powers,  by  using 
Political  weapons.  Its  errand  is  with  the  heart,  and  its  power  is  over  the  heart.  Its  moral 
power  is  disarmed,  the  moment  it  resorts  to  political  power,  and  God  is  no  longer  with  it.  The 
spirit  has  fled,  and  it  is  not  Christianity,  whatever  may  be  its  pretensions;  nor  can  Christian 
ity  be  made  responsible  for  that  which  its  precepts  and  spirit  alike  forbid.  If  these  are  just 
thoughts,  every  true  Christian,  as  well  as  every  true  patriot,  will  be  apprized  of  his  duty  in 
regard  to  political  abolition.  Most  respectfully,  most  kindly,  and  with  affectionate1  concern, 

79 


16 

would  we  implore  those  Christians,  who  have  honestly  enlisted  in  this  enterprise,  to  pause  and 
consider.  Their  allegiance  to  God  is  doubtless  first,  highest,  and  most  sacred.  It  is  for  that 
we  invoke  their  allegiance  to  the  State,  because  God  has  enjoined  it.  We  implore  them  to 
consider  both  the  scandal  and  prejudice  that  will  attach  to  Christianity,  by  forcing  religion 
into  a  political  warfare,  by  buckling  upon  it  a  political  harness,  and  putting  into  its  hands 
political  weapons,  for  an  inevitable  discomfiture.  Can  it  for  a  moment  be  imagined,  that  the 
American  people,  having  once  opened  their  eyes  to  such  an  attempt,  will  tolerate  it  ? 

48.  Great  Britain  and  American  Abolition. 

TOy    'r*..  •.;  :  .   ./' 

In  the  political  aspects  of  this  question,  it  is  scarcely  possible  for  us  to  shut  our  eyes  to  th« 
fact,  that  American  citizens  should  stand  up  in  the  world's  Convention  at  London,  and  pandei 
to  the  lust  of  empire,  and  of  the  world's  empire,  nourished  in  that  capital  and  by  the  Govern 
ment  of  that  country,  by  denouncing  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  conspiring 
with  those  who  would  embrace  the  first  opportunity  to  overturn  our  institutions  in  a  servila 
and  civil  war.  That  the  policy  of  Great  Britain  is  morally  allied  to  the  abolition  movement 
of  this  country,  is  certain.  The  language  that  has  been  used  by  American  Abolitionists,  in 
Exeter  Hall,  London,  and  in  other  public  places  of  that  empire,  can  not  but  be  regarded  as 
utterly  hostile  to  that  fealty  which  every  American  citizen  owes  to  the  Government  of  his 
country.  When  words,  and  such  words,  are  so  strong,  can  the  heart  be  right  i  If  they  have 
not  already  conspired,  can  there  be  any  doubt,  that  they  would  at  any  moment  conspire  with 
the  Government  of  that  country  to  overthrow  the  Government  of  this,  to  accomplish  their 
end  ? — Doubtless  they  are  looked  upon  as  fellow-workers,  whenever  the  British  Government 
shall  have  occasion  to  employ  them. 

49.  The  denationalizing  influence  of  political  abolition. 

The  conduct  of  American  Abolitionists  abroad,  as  above  referred  to,  is  an  anomaly  in  the 
results  of  human  society  ;  at  least,  it  is  what  no  one  dould  have  anticipated,  or  would  have 
predicted.  If,  indeed,  there  be  anything  in  political  abolition,  which  can  so  utterly  denation 
alize  Americans  born,  and  set  them  against  their  own  country,  to  denounce  it  publicly  in 
foreign  parts,  and  to  show  a  disposition  to  enter  into  any  conspiracy  to  overthrow  the  Ameri 
can  Government,  it  is  high  time,  that  so  unpatrioiic  a  movement  be  understood  and  appre 
ciated. 

50.  Perjury. 

We  must  farther  solicit  that  honest  and  conscientious  portion  of  the  community,  who,  witl 
the  most  upright  designs,  have,  as  we  believe,  been  seduced  by  the  leaders  of  political  aboli 
tion  into  that  faith,  to  consider  the  position  in  which  they  are  placed  as  religious  men,  by  ad 
hering  to  and  acting  with  the  Abolitionists,  in  the  way  proposed.  How  can  they,  as  Amer 
ican  citizens,  bound  by  all  the  solemnities  of  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Constitution  an( 
Government  of  the  United  States — for  that  oath  is  always  implied  in  a  ballot,  and  in  manj 
States  actually  administered  as  a  qualification — how  can  they  subscribe  to  such  a  declarator 
as  the  Buffalo  Manifesto,  and  then  vote  the  abolition  ticket,  or  how  can  they  vote  tha 
ticket  at  all,  having  such  a  declared  object,  without  contracting  the  stain  of  PERJURY  on  the* 
touls  ?  And  is  not  the  Manifesto  itself  a  subornation  of  perjury  ? 

51.  jUnother  view  of  this  perjury. 

It  is  certainly  a  most  extraordinary  case,  as  it  is  perjury  proposed — and  publicly  proposed 
In  this  view  it  is  shameless.  It  is  farther  than  crime  has  ever  before  presumed  to  go.  Bu 
observe  the  spectacle  it  would  present,  if  it  were  carried  out.  The  proposal  and  enterprisi 
is,  to  obtain  a  political  ascendancy  in  the  national  councils,  and  to  elect  the  Federal  officers 
to  administer  the  Government  of  the  country.  They  invite  this  whole  nation  to  perjure  them 
selves  at  the  ballot-box  !  Is  it  not  so  ?— What  a  scene  would  that  be!  And  they  set  up  th» 
pulpit  of  religion  to  persuade  them  into  it !  They  profess  to  do  it  all  in  the  name  and  by  th« 
sanction  of  "  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  Universe  !" 

When  they  shall  have  accomplished  this  end,  the  President  elect  is  to  stand  up  before  the 
nation  and  the  world,  and  take  the  following  oath  : — "  I  do  solemnly  swear,  that  I  will  faith 
fully  execute  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  and  will,  to  the  best  of  my  ability, 
preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States."  And  he  is  to  do  this,  witk 
a  proclamation  in  his  right  hand,  before  uttered  and  published,  that  he  will  do  neither,  and  that 
he  will  violate  every  part  of  this  oath  !  And  the  Vice  President,  and  every  member  of  Congress, 
and  every  Federal  Officer,  throughout  the  land,  belonging  to  this  party,  is  to  do  the  same  thing  ! 
Was  such  a  scene  ever  before  projected  to  be  enacted  in  human  society  ? — How  it  is  \  >3sible 
to  come  to  any  other  result,  under  the  Buffalo  Manifesto,  we  are  utterly  unable  to  see.  A 
perjured  people,  a  perjured  Government,  a  perjured  nation,  punishing,  in  a  common  court  of 
justice,  with  the  heaviest  penalties,  that  by  which  they  attained  their  eminence  ! 

80 


THE 

|          ;    JUIIUS  TRACTS. 

No.  VI. 

JAN'Y.]  PUBLISHED  EVERY  SECOND  MONTH.  [1844, 


DEMOCRACY. 


BY  JUNIUS. 

Author  of  "  THE  CRISIS  OF  THE  COUNTRY,"  and  other  Tracts  of  1840. 

Price,  3  cents  single,  $2  50  cts.  per  100,  or  $20  per  1000. 

TRACTS  ALREADY  PUBLISHED. 

No.     I.  THE  TEST,  OR  PARTIES  TRIED  BY  THEIR  ACTS. 
«     II.  THE  CURRENCY. 
«    III.  THE  TARIFF. 
«    IV.  LIFE  OF  HENRY  CLAY. 
«      V.  POLITICAL  ABOLITION 
«    VI.  DEMOCRACY. 

ID"  NOTICE : — Committees,  Clubs,  and  all  persons  desirous  of  obtaining  these  Tracts, 
are  requested  to  send  their  orders,  with  remittances,  to  the  publishers,  Greeley  fy  McElrath, 
Tribune  Office,  New  York,  who  will  promptly  forward  them  to  any  part  of  the  Union,  as  may 
be  directed.  Remittances  by  mail,  post  paid  or  free,  at  the  risk  of  the  proprietor.  Price  for 
any  one  of  the  series,  $2  50  cts.  per  100  copies,  or  $20  per  1000. 

CD"  Postmasters  are  authorized  by  law  to  make  remittances  under  their  frank. 


NEW  YORK: 
PUBLISHED  BY  GREELEY  &  McELRATH, 

TRIBUNE  BUILDINGS,  160  NASSAU  STREET. 


1844. 


[Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1844,  by  CALVIN  COLTON,  in  the  Clerk's  office  of 
the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  and  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York.] 

U7* EXTRACTS  in  Newspapers,  for  purposes  of  review,  are  allowed  and  invited;  but  a  violation 
of  copyright  is  forbidden. 

[One  Sheet  Periodical,  Postage  under  100  miles  i  J  cents  ,  over  100  miles  2}.] 

81 


2 
DEMOCRACY. 

§  1.  A  story. 

A  Member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  Congress,  a  friend  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  met  a 
Whig  Senator,  in  a  steamboat,  in  the  early  part  of  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1840,  when 
the  former  said  to  the  latter,  "  Your  Log  Cabin,  and  Hard  Cider  is  no  go.  We  shall  beat 
you.''  '» How  so  ?"  asked  the  Senator.  "  Mr.  Van  Buren,"  answered  the  Member,  "  relies 
upon  the  words  Democracy — Democrat — and  Democratic.  We  all  rely  upon  them,  as  a  party. 
While  we  wear  this  name,  you  can  not  beat  us,  but  we  shall  beat  you."  This  is  a  story  of 
fact,  told  us,  with  some  other  details,  by  the  Senator  himself.  It  happened,  however,  for  that 
occasion,  that  there  was  more  democracy  in  "  Log  Cabin  and  Hard  Cider,"  than  there  was 
in  "  Democracy"  itself.  The  Member  of  the  House  was  right,  and  the  very  reason  he  gave, 
prevailed  on  the  other  side. — Mr.  Van  Buren  was  beaten. 

§  2.  The  Lesson. 

As  the  above  is  a  story  of  fact,  and  as  it  doubtless  tells  a  truth,  and  confesses  a  secret, 
though  perfectly  obvious  to  all  observing  minds,  the  Whigs  will  be  very  simple,  if  they  do  not 
profit  by  the  lesson.  All  know,  that  these  self-styled  "  Democrats,"  place  their  chief  reliance 
on  this  word,  in  its  different  forms  of  application.  Not  only  so,  but  they  rely  equally  on  stig 
matizing  their  opponents  with  the  name  of  "  Federalists."  Look  at  the  Globe  and  the  other 
papers  of  that  party  throughout  the  Union.  Is  it  not  so  ?  With  an  unwavering  constancy 
they  adhere  to  this  rule,  in  print  and  in  speech.  They  are  aware  of  the  importance  of  it. 
They  "  rely"  upon  it. 

§  3.  Etymology. 

The  word  Democracy  is  formed  of  the  Greek  words  Demos,  people,  and  Krated,  to  rule. 
Compounded,  it  signifies  a  ^eqp/e-government,  in  distinction  from  Monarchy,  or  One  Man  gov 
ernment.  The  word  Monarchy  is  compounded  of  the  Greek  words  Monos,  sole,  and  jlrkos,  ruler, 
and  means  as  above  defined.  In  grammatical  construction,  therefore,  these  words,  Monarchy 
and  Democracy,  stand  opposed  to  each  other,  thus :  Monarchy  means  the  government  of  One 
Man,  and  Democracy  a  government  by  the  peopk.  There  is  a  perfect  grammatical  purity 
and  propriety  in  both,  and  they  announce  and  declare  precisely  what  they  are  intended  to  do. 

§  4.  Historical  Origin. 

The  term  Democracy,  we  believe,  was  first  applied  to  the  small  republics  of  Greece,  where 
the  people  ruled  in  primary  assemblies.  Hence  the  word  is  of  pure  Greek  origin.  That  was 
the  purest  land  of  democracy,  where  the  people  avoided  the  representative  forms  of  a  republic, 
as  much  as  possible,  and  enacted  their  laws,  and  made  their  decrees,  in  primary  assemblies  of 
the  people,  though  it  is  obvious,  that  the  executive  functions  of  the  Government  were  neces 
sarily,  for  the  most  part,  performed  by  individual  and  selected  agents.  The  word,  Democracy, 
is  therefore  of  very  ancient  historical  use,  and  has  never  since  been  laid  aside,  because  men, 
in  different  parts  of  the  world,  have  been  constantly  struggling  for  liberty,  for  a  peopk-govern- 
ment,  in  opposition  to  the  claims  of  Monarchy,  or  One  Man  Power.  Democracy  and  Monarchy, 
Democrat  and  Monarchist,  Democratic  and  Monarchical,  in  their  several  substantive  and 
adjective  forms,  have  passed  down  through  all  languages,  in  all  countries,  from  their  pure 
Greek  origin,  with  little  variation  in  form  or  meaning,  always  and  everywhere  standing 
opposed  to  each  other,  as  correlative  terms.  The  fact  of  this  uniform  and  general  use  of  these 
terms,  with  a  uniform  meaning,  amonf  all  nations,  for  so  many  ages,  three  thousand-  years, 
more  or  less,  is  conclusive  evidence,  not  only  of  the  uninterrupted  and  equally  extensive 
agitation  of  the  political  questions  which  they  involve,  but  of  the  general  tendency  of  society, 
all  the  world  over,  and  of  the  persevering  aims  of  mankind,  for  the  universal  establishment  of 
Democracy,  or  a  ^eq/)/e-government. 

§  5.  The  political  position  of  these  terms. 

This,  we  should  think,  ought  to  be  considered  as  settled  by  the  etymological  derivation  and 
historical  origin  and  use  above  given.  Such  facts  have  a  character  of  high  and  emphatic 
teaching.  They  have  a  potent  influence  over  the  mind  of  the  world,  high  and  low,  in  political 
philosophy,  as  well  as  in  the  hearts  of  those,  who  have  felt  the  iron  hand  of  monarchical 
power,  and  are  struggling  for  release,  or  who  have  obtained  their  freedom.  It  is  for  democracy 
as  opposed  to  monarchy,  which  the  whole  world  are  striving  for,  and  which  they  are  resolved 
to  have. 

§  6.  De  Tocqueville. 

De  Tocqueville'e  "American  Democracy"  is  very  instructive,  not  alone  for  the  objects  he 
had  in  view,  but  it  is  especially  pertinent  to  our  present  purpose,  which  he  never  thought 
o(t  simply  because  he  never  thought  it  could  be  made  a  question.  He  took  for  granted,  that 

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the  word,  Democracy,  in  all  history  and  in  all  countries,  with  all  political  sects,  in  political 
philosophy,  and  in  the  common  mind,  occupies  precisely  the  same  position  as  it  does  in  gram 
mar,  to  wit,  as  opposed  to  Monarchy.  Hence  he  everywhere  treats  of  democracy  as  standing 
in  this  relation,  and  only  in  this  general  and  comprehensive  sense.  He  assumes,  that  there 
are  different  kinds  of  democracy,  as  of  monarchy,  and  undertakes  to  treat  of  American  democ 
racy  as  one  of  the  varieties.  We  hardly  need  say,  that,  by  American  Democracy,  De  Tocqua- 
rille  means  our  popular  farm  of  government,  such  as  it  actually  is. 

§  7.  Other  authorities. 

In  the  same  manner,  all  political  writers  of  the  old  world,  give  the  same  meaning  to  these 
terms  respectively,  and  uniformly  use  them  in  their  relative  grammatical  sense.  All  attempts 
to  put  down  monarchical  power,  and  elevate  the  people,  they  call  Democracy.  It  is  the  same 
in  England.  The  antagonist  of  Monarchy  there,  is  Democracy,  and  the  growth  of  popular 
influence  in  the  Government,  and  in  general  society,  is  used  synonymously  and  interchangeably 
with  the  progress  of  Democratic  power. 

§  8.  The  feelings  of  immigrants. 

There  is  probably  not  a  single  exception — we  have  never  known  one — in  the  case  of  emi 
grants  from  European  states  to  this  country,  so  far  as  political  reasons  enter  into  their  motives, 
where  they  have  not  come  over  for  democracy  as  opposed  to  monarchy.  They  come  because 
they  are  democrats.  Democracy  was  the  object  of  their  affection  and  the  theme  of  their 
praise  before  they  came,  it  was  their  song  on  the  voyage,  it  is  their  anthem  here,  and  they  all 
go  for  it.  It  is  because  they  hate  monarchy,  having,  no  doubt,  the  best  of  all  reasons,  a  sad 
experience  of  its  evils. 

§  9.  Republicanism. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that,  while  DEMOCRACY  is  a  word  of  high  and  pure  significance  in  the 
European  world,  representing  simply  what  we  have  already  indicated,  to  wit,  a  people-government, 
in  distinction  from  Monarchy,  the  words,  Republicanism  and  Rejmblicans,  have  fallen  under 
deep  reproach.  It  results  entirely  from  the  atrocities  of  the  French  Revolution  of  1790-'93,  the 
authors  and  actors  of  which,  as  is  well  known,  were  called  Republicans.  We  are  known  to 
the  world  as  a  Republic,  and  the  phrase,  "  a  republican  form  of  government,"  is  used  in  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  as  guarantied  by  that  instrument  to  every  new  State;  but 
the  denomination  of  republican  has  never  adhered  long  to  any  political  party  of  the  country. 
The  cause  is  not  apparent,  unless  it  be  supposed  to  result  from  the  fact,  that  there  is  no 
obvious  meaning  in  the  term  itself  indicative  of  the  precise  character  of  our  institutions.  It 
is  well  understood,  however,  to  denote  a  popular  government,  acting  by  representative  agents. 

§  10.  TJie  effect  of  accidental  causes. 

It  has  happened,  undoubtedly,  that  the  terms,  Democracy  and  Democrats,  have  to  some 
extent,  and  more  especially  in  particular  sections  of  this  country,  been  for  a  time  rather  odious, 
on  account  of  what  has  very  justly  been  regarded  as  the  hypocrisy  of  pretenders  to  democracy, 
in  the  same  manner  as  some  dislike  the  name  of  Christian,  because  they  observe  the  charac 
ter  of  religious  hypocrites.  Let  us  not  be  accused  of  making  a  profane  comparison.  It  i» 
the  only  fit  one  to  describe  the  case.  But,  as  Christianity  can  never  be  ultimately  and  per 
manently  prejudiced  by  the  hypocrisy  of  false  pretenders,  so  neither  can  Democracy,  and  the 
latter  holds  a  'like  place  in  the  political  world,  as  the  former  does  in  the  moral.  Democracy, 
in  our  regard,  is  as  sure  to  outlive  this  transient  odium,  as  Christianity  is  to  triumph  over  her 
foes.  For  as  GOD  will  vindicate  the  former,  so  will  truth  the  latter.  The  world  is  the  theatre 
for  both,  and  the  little  accidents  of  evil  which  may  come  in  the  way  of  either,  here  or  there,  to 
asperse  their  character,  or  retard  their  progress  for  a  season,  will  not  impede  their  steady 
onward  course,  nor  bar  a  final  triumph.  The  action  and  history  of  human  society  for  three 
thousand  years,  have  decided,  that  Democracy  is  the  opposite  of  Monarchy,  and  no  accident, 
no  fleeting  shadow  of  a  day,  can  disturb  or  modify  this  relation. 

§  11.  Our  Government  a  Democracy. 

We  are  aware,  that  some  have  denied  this ;  but  we  think  it  is  from  want  of  an  enlarged 
and  philosophical  view  of  the  question.  The  grammatical  and  historical  facts,  already  adduced, 
would  certainly  seem  to  decide,  beyond  controversy,  in  favor  of  our  position.  We  think  this 
question,  if  any  choose  to  make  controversy  about  it,  is  to  be  decided  by  the  position  which 
the  term,  Democracy,  holds  in  the  public  mind  of  the  world  at  large,  and  in  the  records  of 
history,  and  not  by  the  narrow  views  of  our  own  political  sectarians,  nor  by  a  nice  scrutiny 
of  the  constitutional  structure  of  our  Government,  as  compared  with  an  original  and  pure 
theoretical  democracy,  sitting  and  governing  themselves  in  primary  assemblies  of  the  people. 
This  latter  picture  is  doubtless  the  purest  theory  of  a  democracy ;  but  it  is  an  impracticable 
mode  of  government.  We  choose  rather  to  regard  the  more  notable  and  fixed  character,  and 
to  adopt  the  names,  which  history  and  immemorial  usage  have  given  to  the  different  forms  of 

83 


government,  as  they  actually  appear  from  time  to  time,  in.  different  countries,  and  these  are 
generally  classed  under  the  heads  of  Monarchies  and  Republics,  or  Monarchies  and  Democ 
racies,  Republics  and  Democracies  being  used  as  synonymous  and  convertible  terms.  Each 
of  these  two  classes,  as  before  observed,  has  its  varieties.  But  the  representative  forms  of 
popular  governments,  however  one  may  diifer  from  another,  if  all  the  powers  of  govern- 
mfiU  originate  in  the  people  and  periodically  return  to  them,  or  if  those  powers  may  be 
constitutionally  resumed  and  modified  by  the  people,  cannot  divest  them  of  their  democratic 
character.  They  are  still  Democracies  in  distinction  from  Monarchies'.  With  the  first  of 
these  classes,  the  government  of  these  United  States  is  properly,  and  for  aught  we  can  see, 
necessarily  ranked.  It  is  a  Democracy.  And  ours  is  a  very  democratic  government,  in  its 
practical  operation,  as  compared  with  any  that  has  ever  existed  permanently  by  its  own 
inherent  strength.  Who  does  not  know,  how  the  slightest  breezes  of  a  political  nature, 
moving  over  the  popular  mind,  may  affect  and  change  the  policy  of  the  Government  ?  Will 
any  deny  that  this  is  democracy  ? 

§12.  Aristocracy. 

As  it  is  not  found  convenient  for  monarchies  to  stand  alone,  and  being  socially  at  a  lofty 
remove  from  the  level  of  the  people,  it  has  been  thought  necessary  to  surround  a  throne  with 
orders  and  ranks  of  nobility,  having  chartered  privileges,  large  endowments  of  wealth,  heredi 
tary  rights,  patented  honorary  distinctions,  &c.,  &c.,  each  occupying  a  mediate  stage  between 
the  sovereign  and  the  people,  till  the  chasm  is  filled  up ;  and  the  interests  of  these  numerous 
parties  are  so  connected  and  identified  with  each  other,  and  with  the  throne,  that  all  are 
interested  in  maintaining  the  rights  of  the  Monarchy  against  the  claims  of  the  Democracy. 
With  the  sanction  of  time  and  usage  for  their  position,  with  their  wealth,  and  with  the 
physical  force  at  their  command,  they  support  their  power,  and  the  supremacy  of  the  sovereign. 
An  aristocracy,  in  form  or  substance,  is  considered  a  necessary  appendage  of  monarchy. 

§  13.  An  Oligarchy. 

An  Oligarchy,  or  government  of  a  few,  associate  and  equal,  is  considered  the  most  odious 
of  all  governments,  and  is  doubtless  capable  of  the  most  cruel  despotism.  Venice  existed  for 
centuries  under  this  form  of  government,  flourished  as  a  commercial  and  warlike  state,  but 
was  finally  dissolved,  and  tumbled  to  ruins,  by  the  atrocities  of  its  Administration. 

§  14.  Democracy  as  a  party  in  the  Republic. 

A  democratic  party  in  a  democratic  state,  would  seem  to  be  an  anomaly.  The  curiosity  d£ 
a  stranger  would  naturally  demand,  What,  then,  can  the  other  party  be  ? — Are  they  monarchists  ? 
or  what  ?  An  exclusive  claim  of  one  of  two  parties  to  democracy,  in  a  democratic  country 
like  this,  is,  to  say  the  least,  not  a  very  modest  pretension,  and  a  scrutiny  as  to  the  propriety 
and  grounds  of  such  a  claim,  must  of  course  be  expected. 

§  15.  A  retrospective  glance. 

It  is  a  well-known' fact,  that,  in  the  time  of  the  elder  Adams,  a  party,  of  high  standing  and 
great  influence,  existed  in  the  republic,  called  Federalists,  the  leaders  of  which  were  accused — 
we  do  not  decide  whether  justly  or  unjustly — of  aristocratic  aspirations  and  monarchical 
schemes.  It  is  also  known,  that  the  passage  of  the  Alien  and  Sedition  laws,  was  the  signal 
for  the  uprising  and  organization  of  a  party,  which  assumed  the  name,  and  was  called 
democratic,  as  being  opposed  to  these  imputed  monarchical  designs.  With  this  color  of 
propriety  to  start  with,  sounding  their  alarms,  and  urging  their  cause,  they  succeeded,  under 
the  lead  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  in  1801,  in  obtaining  the  government  of  the  country,  and  the 
Federalists  were  thoroughly  routed,  so  that  they  never  appeared  again,  with  any  effect,  as  an 
organized  party,  were  soon  scattered,  and  after  a  few  years,  were  merged  in  other  parties,  some 
going  one  way  and  some  another.  It  is  remarkable,  however,  that  no  small  portion  of  the 
most  prominent,  most  pretending,  and  apparently  most  influential  leaders  of  the  present  self- 
styled  "  Democratic  party,"  came  from  the  Federal  ranks.  It  is  a  fact  to  be  observed. 

§  16.  A  young  Champion  of  this  original  Democracy. 

Henry  Clay,  of  Kentucky,  roused  by  his  eloquence,  marshalled  by  his  skill,  and  led  on  by  his 
valor,  the  democratic  army  of  that  Commonwealth,  as  their  chosen  captain.  He  was  recognised 
and  honored,  as  such,  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  throughout  his  Administration.  He  was  neither  the 
least,  nor  second,  among  the  leaders  of  the  Democracy  under  the  administration  of  Mr.  Madi 
son.  (See  the  "Life  of  Henry  Clay,"  Tract  No.  IV.)  From  the  beginning  of  his  political 
career,  down  to  this  hour,  he  has  been  a  true,  consistent,  American  Democrat,  "original, 
dyed  in  the  wool,"  as  we  shall  by  and  by  have  occasion  to  see. 

§  17.  A  Hint. 

Nothing  is  more  obvious,  than  the  truth,  that,  since  the  decline  and  dispersion  of  th« 
Federal  party,  no  other  party  in  this  country  could,  with  propriety,  modesty,  or  decency, 

84 


claim  the  exclusive  title  of  democratic,  even  if  it  were  proper  before.  It  was  first  assumed 
for  the  occasion,  and  continued  to  be  applied  from  habit ;  but  even  the  Federalists,  as  is 
well  known,  denied  the  charges  which  were  alleged  against  them ;  and  if,  indeed,  there  were 
traitors  to  the  country  then,  not  a  few  of  the  worst  and  most  dangerous  of  them  are  now 
figuring  largely  and  prominently  in  the  self-styled  "  Democratic"  ranks. 

§  18.  Ji  Likeness. 

The  history  of  political  parties  in  this  country  has  been  very  much  like  the  movements  of 
flocks  of  wild  pigeons  and  shoals  of  fishes.  A  cloud  of  these  birds  comes  sweeping  through 
the  air,  in  a  dense  mass  and  long  train,  apparently  following  one  leader,  and  anon,  they  divide 
into  two,  or  three,  or  four  armies,  separating  and  circling  away  to  different  quarters  of  the 
heavens,  under  as  many  captains.  They  may  form  a  junction  again,  in  whole,  or  in  part,  or 
they  may  not.  The  chances  are,  they  will  never  all  get  together  in  the  same  order.  The 
same  is  it  with  shoals  of  fishes.  Now  a  solid  body  moves  steadily  on,  when  all  at  once,  they 
branch  off,  and  dart  away,  no  one  knows  where.  It  is  supposed  they  have  gone  off  under 
new  leaders. 

§  19.  The  state  of  parties  under  Mr.  Monroe's  Administration. 

There  has  been  one  period  of  comparative  repose  in  our  political  history,  when  all  parties 
were  apparently  blended  in  a  common  mass.  It  was  under  Mr.  Monroe. 

§  20.  The  new  "  Democracy"  no  Democracy. 

After  a  calm,  comes  a  otorm.  The  evoking  of  new  political  parties,  of  such  character  and 
force,  out  of  such  a  state  of  things  as  existed  under  Mr.  Monroe,  can  be  accounted  for  only 
by  special  influences.  The  causes  will  be  found  in  our  Tract  No.  IV.,  pages  9  and  10.  A 
violence  was  done  to  the  repose  of  the  public  mind,  and  that  violence  was  supported  by  a  long 
protracted  fraud.  Principles  were  laid  aside,  and  a  MAN  set  up.  The  influence  was  PERSONAL, 
not  political. 

In  this  there  could  be  NO  Democracy,  but  the  very  opposite.  When  Napoleon  rose,  it  was 
all  for  liberty ,  for  the  people,  for  France.  It  is  always  so,  when  MEN  rise,  in  the  place  of 
PRINCIPLES.  They  call  things  by  names  directly  opposite  to  the  FACTS  ;  and  it  becomes  neces 
sary  to  insist  upon  it,  with  an  emphasis  and  an  energy,  proportionate  to  the  falseness  of  the 
pretensions,  and  the  danger  of  detection.  Popular  deception  can  not  be  carried  on  and  carried 
through,  without  heaps  upon  heaps  of  false  asseveration.  Democracy  and  a  democratic  party 
had  been  popular  in  the  country.  What  more  prudent,  or  more  politic,  than  to  call  this  new 
development  by  the  same  name  ?  They  had  all  power,  could  do  as  they  pleased,  and  would 
be  believed.  They  called  it  Democracy !  An  implicit  giving  up  of  the  control  and  manage 
ment  of  everything  to  ONE  MAN,  democracy  !  Such  is  not  the  decision  of  grammar,  nor  the 
utterance  of  history,  nor  is  it  very  nearly  allied  to  common  apprehension. 

What  resemblance,  or  what  connexion  there  was  between  the  se//"-styled  "Democracy,"  which 
ruled  in  the  land  from  1830  to  1840,  and  that  which  rose  in  1801,  and  long  presided  over  the 
destinies  of  the  country,  we  are  utterly  unable  to  see.  Jeffersonian  democracy,  for  aught 
that  appears,  was  the  power  of  the  PEOPLE.  Ja-ckson  "  Democracy"  was  the  ascendant  star 
of  ONE  MAN.  The  first  grew  out  of  an  alarm  for  the  safety  of  popular  rights ;  the  last  sprung 
from  an  obsequious  regard  for  a  Military  Chieftain. 

§  21.  The.  Democracy  of  Mr.  Clay. 

The  position  of  Mr.  Clay  in  the  democratic  party  which  triumphed  in  1801,  and  long 
swayed  the  sceptre  of  this  republic,  has  already  been  recognised.  He  was  first,  most  eloquent, 
and  most  influential  in  the  ranks  of  the  Kentucky  democracy  of  that  era  ;  he  had  the  entire 
confidence  of  Mr.  Jefferson  ;  he  was  the  main  pillar  of  Mr.  Madison's  administration,  and  to 
iio  man  is  the  country  more  indebted  than  to  him  for  the  success  of  our  arms  in  the  last  war 
with  Great  Britain,  and  for  an  honorable  and  advantageous  peace.  A  true  American  demo 
crat  from  the  beginning,  rising  from  the  humblest  origin,  poor  and  friendless,  and  depending 
alone  on  his  personal  industry  and  energy,  he  was  ready,  and  full  armed,  for  the  service  of 
his  country — such  service  as  we  have  endeavored  briefly  to  set^forth  in  Tract  No.  IV. 

§  22.  Defining  a  position. 

While  the  Subtreasury  Bill  was  under  debate  in  the  Senate,  Mr.  Calhoun  cast  some  reflec 
tion  on  Mr.  Clay,  as  having  on  his  side  members  of  the  Federal  party.  "Sir,"  said  Mr.  Clay, 
addressing  the  President  of  that  body,  "  I  am  ready  to  go  into  an  examination  with  the 
honorable  Senator  at  any  time,  and  then  we  shall  see  if  there  be  not  more  members  of  that 
same  old  Federal  party  among  those  whom  the  Senator  has  recently  joined,  than  on  our 
aide  of  the  house.  The  plain  truth  is,  that  it  is  the  old  Federal  party  with  whom  he,  is  now 
acting.  For,  all  the  former  grounds  of  difference  which  distinguished  that  party,  and  were  the 
subjects  of  contention  between  them  and  the  republicans,  have  ceased,  from  lapse  of  time  and 
change  of  circumstances,  with  the  exception  of  ONE,  and  that  is  the  maintenance  and  increase 

85 


of  executive  power.  This  was  a  leading  policy  of  the  Federal  party.  Jl  strong,  powerful, 
and  energetic  Executive,  was  its  favorite  tenet."  *  *  "I  can  tell  the  gentleman,  that 
he  will  find  the  true  old  Democratic  party,  who  were  for  resisting  the  encroachments  of  power, 
and  limiting  executive  patronage,  on  OUR  aide  of  the  Senate,  and  not  with  his  new  allies,  the 
Jackson-  Van-Buren  democratic  party,  whose  leading  principle  is  to  sustain  the  Executive,  and 
deny  all  power  to  the  legislature,  and  which  does  not  hold  a  solitary  principle  in  common 
with  the  republican  party  of  1798." 

This  accidental  skirmish  affords  a  true  definition  of  the  position  of  the  two  great  parties  at  that 
time  and  now  existing  in  the  country,  and  which  were  formed  by  the  accession  of  General  Jack 
son  to  power.  "  The  plain  truth  is,"  said  Mr.  Clay,  "  that  it  is  the  old  Federal  party,  with 
whom  he  (Mr.  Calhoun)  is  now  acting."  *  *  "I  can  tell  the  gentleman,  that  he  will  find 
the  true  old  Democratic  party  on  our  side  of  the  Senate."  No  man  had  a  better  right  to  under.- 
stand  this  matter,  than  he  who  was  born  and  raised  in  a  democratic  family,  who  was  educated 
in  a  democratic  school,  who  had  worked  all  his  life  in  the  democratic  harness,  who  had  never 
once  kicked  in  the  traces,  nor  balked,  and  of  whom,  in  regard  to  the  true  democracy  of  the 
country,  it  might  be  said,  he  was  chief  among  the  chief,  and  always  foremost.  Mr?  Clay  had 
never  deserted  his  old  family  connexions,  and  passed  from  one  side  to  the  other ;  but  he  stood 
proudly  on  his  patrimonial  estate.  He  was  never  heard  to  say,  like  one  of  his  rival  opponents 
for  the  Presidency,  lately  withdrawn,  "  I  thank  Heaven,  that  I  have  not  a  drop  of  democratic 
blood  in  my  veins."  A  democrat  originally,  and  a  democrat  always,  unchanged  and  unchange 
able,  he  knew  how  to  maintain  the  principles  of  democracy,  and  vindicate  its  honor.  When 
he  said,  "  I  can  tell  the  gentleman,"  &c.,  he  said  what  every  one  knew  to  be  a  truth,  and  that 
truth  was  a  hard  one  for  his  opponents. 

§  23.  Mr.  Clay's  Democracy  as  a  Senator  of  the  United  States. 

The  position  we  have  given  to  Democracy  in  the  grammar  of  language,  in  all  history,  in 
political  philosophy,  and  in  the  universal  sense  of  mankind,  as  a  people-government  in  oppo 
sition  to  One-Man  Power,  we  desire  to  be  constantly  borne  in  mind.  It  is  only  by  this  distinct 
perception,  by  this  discrimination,  that  we  can  properly  and  fully  appreciate  the  thing,  when 
it  comes  up  before  us,  in  its  various  practical  forms. 

In  this  light,  observe  the  career  of  Mr.  Clay  as  a  Senator  of  the  United  States,  always 
jealous  of  all  encroachments  of  Executive  power  on  the  legislative  branch  of  the  Government, 
and  of  all  its  abuses  and  usurpations  in  other  applications.  The  national  legislature  is  the 
representative  power  of  the  people,  of  the  democracy  acting  through  its  own  agents  and  organs. 
It  is  the  people,  standing  up  by  proxy  in  that  place,  to  enact  laws  for  themselves.  Invade  the 
rights  of  that  body — it  can  be  done  from  no  quarter  but  the  Executive — and  you  invade  the 
rights  of  democracy ;  destroy  them — no  power  but  the  Executive  can  do  it — and  you  destroy 
democracy.  Congress  is  the  home  of  American  democracy,  its  theatre,  its  sacred  ground.  It 
is  more : — IT  is  ITS  THRONE.  The  Executive  is  but  the  servant  of  democracy,  to  do  its  will. 
The  bidding,  the  mandate  goes  out  from  the  Capitol,  not  from  the  White  House.  It  is  the 
duty  of  the  latter  to  obey,  when  the  former  has  published  its  orders — to  do  the' whole  thing  pre 
scribed,  and  nothing  more.  Excess  is  as  bad  as  short  coming. 

Of  these  prerogatives  of  American  Democracy,  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  where 
can  be  found  so  constant,  so  vigilant,  so  faithful  a  sentinel — so  bold  an  advocate,  or  a  defender 
so  uncompromising,  as  Henry  Clay  has  been  1 

It  can  not  be  said,  that  the  rights  of  American  Democracy  have  never  been  menaced,  never 
assailed  there.  More  than  once,  or  twice,  or  thrice,  have  they  been  violated  on  that  ground. 
But  it  was  not  without  resistance — not  without  a  warning  voice,  and  a  prophetic  utterance. 
A  minority  sentinel  can  interpose  no  effectual  democratic  veto  there.  He  can  say,  Nay ;  but 
it  is  on  the  weaker  side,  and  doomed  to  be  overpowered.  When  a  despotic  and  lawless  Execu 
tive  has  obtained  for  himself  an  obsequious  majority  in  that  body,  he  snaps  asunder  the  cords 
of  the  Constitution,  and  tramples  on  the  rights  of  democracy. 

It  was  from  a  long  protracted  and  painful  experience  of  this  kind,  that  Mr.  Clay,  on  bidding 
adieu  to  the  Senate  "of  the  United  States,  in  1842,  never  more  to  appear  in  that  place,  where 
he  had  served  the  people  so  long  and  so  faithfully,  left  on  the  journal  of  that  body,  as  his 
last  will  and  testament  in  capacity  of  a  Senator,  a  proposal  for  an  amendment  of  the  Consti 
tution  in  three  particulars,  designed  to  restrict  and  limit  Executive  power,  so  as  to  prevent 
such  violations  of  the  rights  of  democracy.  (See  Tract,  No.  IV.,  page  14.) 

§  24.  Mr.  Clay's  Democracy  in  private  life. 

We  do  not  mean  as  to  his  manners,  which  in  him  require  neither  eulogy,  nor  defence ;  but 
those  things  which  he  can  not  but  speak  and  do  for  the  country,  wherever  he  is.  In  all 
the  emanations  from  his  mind  and  heart,  through  private  organs,  which  have  found  their  way 
to  the  public,  we  find  the  same  stamp  of  patriotism,  the  same  regard  for  the  rights  of  democ 
racy,  the  same  concern  on  account  and  in  remembrance  of  abuses  of  Executive  power,  the 

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same  desire  to  see  these  evils  of  the  country  rectified,  which  have  illustrated  his  public  life, 
from  beginning  to  end,  with  indelible  characters. 

§  25.  The  pledge  of  Mr.  Clay's  democracy  to  the  end. 

A  public  man's  estate  is  his  reputation — his  fame.  Is  it  morally  possible,  that  a  man,  who 
has  done  so  much  for  democracy,  who  has  toiled  nearly  half  a  century  for  its  extension  and 
security,  and  in  defence  of  its  rights,  should  turn  round,  undo  what  he  has  done,  blast  the 
work  of  his  own  hands,  tarnish  his  fame,  or  wantonly  leave  in  the  minds  of  men  a  doubt  of  hia 
fidelity  ?  If  men  can  trust  anywhere  on  instruments  of  Providence,  duly  appreciating  th€ 
frailty  of  such  supports,  they  will  know  how  to  Irust  in  such  a  case. 

§  26.  Modern  Democracy  a  new  thing. 

We  speak  of  that  which  is  modern  in  our  own  history,  as  compared  with  its  earlier  dates. 
There  is  scarcely  a  feature  of  resemblance  between  the  democracy,  which  preceded  the  amal 
gamation  of  parties  under  Mr.  Monroe,  and  the  self-styled.  "Democracy"  that  has  sprung  up 
since,  and  for  twelve  years  held  the  reins  of  power.  This  is  entirely  a  new  thing.  It  is  as 
remote  from  grammatical,  historical,  and  philosophical  democracy,  and  from  any  democracy 
ever  recognised  as  such,  as  Monarchy  itself.  It  involves  the  two  principles  of  Monarchy  and 
Oligarchy,  with  a  strong  smell  of  Aristocracy ;  but  we  have  never  found  in  it  a  single  element 
of  a  Constitutional  democracy.  The  people  have  had  -a  part  in  it,  without  doubt ;  but  it  was 
only  to  do  as  they  were  told.  They  were  mustered  and  organized  under  the  personal  popularity 
of  One  Man,  and  the  original,  afterward  transmitted  vitality  of  the  party,  consisted  in  obsequious- 
ness  to  one  man's  will.  Does  any  man  need  to  be  told,  that  General  Jackson's  will  was  the 
law  of  his  party ;  or  that  the  party  was  a  body  of  which  he  was  the  soul  ?  It  was  a  party 
formed  around  him  personally  as  a  nucleus,  centre,  and  source  of  influence.  Is  it  not  ap 
parent,  at  a  single  glance,  and  from  moral  necessity,  that  such  a  party  could  not  be  democratic? 
The  head  was  monarch  of  the  party,  sole  and  absolute.  And  as  all  monarchs  require  privileged 
and  rewarded  agents,  he  put  his  finger  upon,  appointed,  and  endowed  such  as  would  answer 
his  purposes,  and  captains  of  tens,  of  fifties,  of  hundreds,  and  of  thousands,  were  made  all 
over  the  land.  It  was  a  strictly  disciplined  party,  under  one  Chief,  who  was  also  at  the  head 
of  the  nation.  It  had  a  military  character  in  its  organization,  discipline,  and  effect. 

Men  do  not  usually  give  such  confidence,  without  a  consideration.  In  the  first  place,  they 
were  gifted  with  a  flattering  name — Democrats.  This  was  understood  to  denote  equality  of 
rights.  In  the  next  place,  they  were  told  and  believed,  that  their  Chief  would  do  for  them  some 
very  nice  things,  in  the  way  of  making  equality  realized.  In  the  third  place,  there  was  held 
out  the  bait  of  a  sort  of  undefined  license,  a  kind  of  political  Millenium,  not  far  ahead,  of  which 
some  din  of  preparation  was  heard  as  an  earnest  of  fulfilment.  In  this  way  was  organized 
an  obsequious  party,  every  fragment  of  which  was  under  the  discipline  and  guidance  ol 
recognised  leaders,  all  of  whom,  in  grades,  were  connected  with  their  Chief.  This,  we  suppose, 
will  be  allowed  to  be  a  fair  picture.  And  is  this  Democracy — a  pcqp/c-government ! 

§  27.  The  Oligarchic  and  jJristocratic  features  of  this  party. 

The  Monarch  is  recognised.  A  government,  under  the  will  of  One,  is  doubtless  a  Mon 
archy,  whatever  may  be  its  Constitutional  name.  It  was  impossible  to  carry  out  such  a  party 
system,  without  sub-chiefs,  and  licensed  authorities,  in  all  its  parts.  The  position  of  these 
agents  lends  them  personal  importance,  and  a  sense  of  the  obscurity  of  their  origin  and  sud 
denness  of  their  elevation,  mounts  into  aristocratic  pride  of  the  worst  kind.  It  is  Aristocracy 
without  grace,  and  without  decency — loving  power,  but  not  knowing  how  to  use  it.  Hence  it 
has  been  remarked,  that  no  party  ever  developed  so  distinctly  the  features  of  Aristocracy,  or 
was  ruled  so  entirely  by  Oligarchs.  This  fact  has  struck  the  party  itself  so  forcibly,  that  some 
of  them  have  waggishly  dubbed  it  "  the  Cod-fish  Aristocracy  of  Democracy." 

§  28.  j$n  Anecdote.         , 

"  How  many  legs  will  a  calf  have,"  asked  a  fellow  of  another,  whose  depth  and 
shrewdness  he  wanted  to  prove,  "if  you  call  his  tail  a  leg?"  "Five,"  was  the  answer. 
"  O  no,  that's  impossible."  "  But  certainly,  he  will  have  five."  "  Does  your  calling  his  tail 
a  leg,  make  it  a  leg  ?"  "  Well,  now,  I  never  thought  of  that." 

It  is  strange,  indeed,  that  it  should  have  taken  the  people  of  this  country  so  long  to  find 
out,  that  a  calf's  tail  could  never  be  made  into  a  calf's  leg,  by  the  act  of  calling  it  a  leg ;  or 
that  One-Man  Power  could  not  be  converted  into  democracy,  by  calling  it  democracy.  We 
have  already  partly  suggested  the  reason  why  this  misnomer  was  given,  and  the  manner  in 
which  it  was  done.  Democracy  had  been  in  good  repute.  And  why  should  it  not  be,  in  a 
democratic  country  ?  But,  as  this  new  "  Democracy"  was  known  to  be  spurious,  it  was  neces 
sary  to  insist  on  its  genuine  character  with  special  urgency — to  affirm  it  over  and  over  again* 
A  falsehood  is  allowed  to  be  made  good,  by  telling  it  often  and  strong,  and  swearing  to  it,  if 

87 


8 

§  29.  Discoveries. 

That  certainly  was  a  very  strong  stamp,  which  the  Chief  of  this  seTf-styled  "Democratic" 
party  gave  to  it,  and  the  impulse  of  his  hand  kept  the  machinery  a-going  long  tune  after  he 
bequeathed  the  charge  of  it  to  his  Successor.  But  it  was  not  long  before  it  began  to  be  dis 
covered,  that  there  was  not  much  democracy  in  this  particular  kind  of  democracy.  It  was  i  rue, 
that  the  captains  of  tens,  fifties,  hundreds,  thousands,  and  so  on,  were  generally  rewarded ; 
but  the  lower  subalterns,  who  fought  well,  and  worked  hard,  got  nothing.  As  the  principle 
proclaimed  was,  "  to  the  victors  belong  the  spoils,"  this  partiality  seemed  very  unreasonable. 
These  dissatistieJ  members  of  the  family  could  not  with  safety  jump  over  the  fence,  because 
their  faces  would  be  recognised  ;  they  were  therefore  forced,  for  a  long  time,  to  work  on,  and 
fight  on,  in  sulky  mood.  But  in  1840,  many  of  them  broke  loose,  and  quit,  as  the  bondage 
had  become  intolerable.  Captain  Tyler's  treachery  gave  hope  to  others,  and  he  got  a  good 
many  of  the  disaffected.  Poor  Mike  Walsh,  captain  of  the  "  Subterraneans,"  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  after  having  done  valiant  and  distinguished  service  for  his  masters,  without  reward, 
first  tried  Captain  Tyler,  till  he  saw  his  foundation  giving  way,  and  then  rebelled  openly,  and 
was  thrust  into  prison  by  his  own  party  !  Ungrateful  "  Democracy" ! 

But  the  most  remarkable  case  of  all  the  penitents,  is  that  of  Mr.  Brownson,  formerly  Editor 
of  the  Boston  Quarterly,  since  associate  Editor  of  the  Democratic  Review,  and  now,  in  1844, 
setting  up  again  for  himself  in  "Brownson's  Quarterly,"  published  in  Boston,  in  the  first  num 
ber  of  which  he  gives  Mr.  Van  Bureh  and  the  party  a  most  terrible  scathing.  It  appears  by 
his  statements,  that  he  has  long  been  dissatisfied  (doubtless  many  others  have),  and  that  he  is 
now  his  own  man  again,  having  swung  clear  of  his  old  associates.  Mr.  Brownson  is  an  origi 
nal,  vigorous  thinker,  an  able  writer,  and  utters  some  striking  truths ;  but  one  hardly  knows 
where  he  will  land,  if  it  be  possible  to  tell  where  he  is  now.  According  to  his  own  definition, 
he  is  a  man  of  "progress." 

One  who  has  been  admitted  to  the  altars  of  this  new  "Democracy,"  and  officiated  there, 
ought  to  know  something  about  it.  The  following  are  a  few  extracts  on  this  subject,  from  his 
Review  for  January,  1844  :  "What  passes  for  their  voice  (the  voice  of  the  'Democracy')  is 
only  the  voice  of  the  corrupt  and  intriguing  few,  who  contrive  to  manage  them,  and  to  cheat 
and"  wheedle  them  out  of  their  votes."  ..."  This  talk  about  the  voice  of  the  people  is  all 
moonshine."  ..."  The  confidence  which  these  politicians  ('  Democrats')  have  in  the  people, 
is  in  the  facility  with  which  they  may  be  gutted."  ..."  Would  they  willingly  let  the  people 
iato  their  secret  caucuses,  into  their  councils  to  contrive  ways  and  means  of  plundering  the 
flunple  and  unsuspecting  ?  Would  the  pure  patriots,  the  democratic  sages  of  Lindenwold  and 
elsewhere,  let  the  people  know  their  various  speculations  and  contrivances  by  which  they 
cheat  and  swindle  the  laboring  classes  out  of  their  hard  earnings,  to  enrich  themselves  and 
their  associates  ?  No ;  there  is  nothing  that  these  men  more  distrust  than  they  do  the  peo 
ple."  ..."  The  real  enemies  of  freedom  are  your  democratic  politicians,  who  with  their  lips 
praise  the  people,  and  with  their  hands  pick  their  pockets." 

As  for  Mr.  Van  Buren,  though  Mr.  Brownson  voted  for  him  in  1840,  very  reluctantly,  he 
seems  to  think  he  was  a  sort  of  nightmare  on  the  party  at  that  time.  In  speaking  of  the  re 
appearance  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  he  says  :  "He  comes  not 
alone,  but  as  the  chief  of  a  band,  which  the  country  had  devoutly  hoped  was  dispersed,  never 
to  be  collected  again.  He  comes  as  the  representative  of  the  same  old  corrupt  and  corrupting 
system  of  party  tactics,  followed  by  the  same  swarm  of  greedy  spoilsmen,  with  their  appetite 
for  plunder  sharpened  by  the  few  years'  abstinence  they  have  been  forced,  through  the  remains 
of  the  original  virtue  and  patriotism  of  the  country,  to  practise.  Gratify  his  wishes,  restore 
him  to  the  place  he  is  personally  soliciting,  and  we  lose  all  that  was  good  in  the  defeat  of  the 
Republican  ('  Democratic')  party  in  1840,  and  retain  only  the  evil.  We  restore  what,  with  an 
almost  unheard-of  effort,  the  country  had  thrown  off,  and  place  the  Republican  party  in  the 
condition  in  which  it  must  be  defeated  again,  or  the  country  be  inevitably  ruined."  .  .  .  "Mr. 
Van  Buren  has,  in  politics,  no  standard  of  right  and  wrong  but  the  will  of^  his  party,  on  the 
surface  of  which  he  foats,  ready  to  take  any  direction  the  selfish  views  of  its  managers  may 
jive  him.  He  is  always  pliable,  manageable,  with  no  obstinate  views  of  his  own,  in  his  or 
anybody's  way." 

Well,  this  is  a  pretty  stout  confession  for  one  who  still  belongs  to  the  party,  and  only  prefers 
Mr.  Calhoun.  It  will  be  observed,  that  Mr.  Brownson  above  substitutes  Republican  for  Dem 
ocratic.  He  has  got  tired  of  "Democracy"  (not  much  wonder),  and  prefers  a  " Constitution 
al  Republic."  He  calls  himself  a  "  Conservative,"  though  he  likes  "progress" — progress  on 
the  past,  not  in  upsetting  the  past — and  we  honor  him  for  it. 

§  30.  TA<?  Radicalism  and  Revolutionary  tendencies  of  this  modern  "Democracy." 

When  the  Dorr  insurrection  broke  out  in  Rhode  Island,  Mr.  Brownscn  bravely  attacked  lire 
principle  of  that  rebellion  in  the  Democratic  Review,  with  which  he  was  then  connected,  and 
really  did  good  service  to  the  country,  though  he  had  the  misfortune  to  offend  his  readers,  live 

88 


patrons  of  that  magazine.  He  showed  very  clearly,  that  all  changes  in  the  fundamental  law 
oi'  a  Stute,  must  be  made  according  to  the  provisions  of  that  law.  Else,  it  is  a  revolution.  This 
doctrine  was  a  manifest  condemnation  of  the  Dorr  party  and  movement. 

It  has  all  along  been  but  too  apparent,  that  this  new  "  Democracy"  was  not  overcharged 
with  respect,  either  for  Constitutional  or  Statute  law,  or  any  law  whatever,  that  might  happen 
to  come  in  its  way.  But  the  outbreak  in  Rhode  Island  unmasked  the  party,  in  regard  to  the 
reliance  to  be  reposed  in  them  on  such  occasions,  and  evinced  how  much  more  they  are  swayed 
by  passion  (some,  it  is  to  be  feared,  by  hope  of  plunder),  than  by  law.  It  will  not  soon  be 
forgotten  who  favored,  and  who  rebuked  that  disturbance.  The  peace  and  welfare  of  our 
country,  and  the  stability  of  our  Government  and  its  institutions,  demand,  that  we  should 
know  who  will  sustain  them,  or  who  will  consent  to  overturn  them  in  an  unpropitious  hour. 

§  3L  The  design  and  importance  of  party  names. 

We  have  already  suggested,  what  we  think  can  not  be  too  well  considered,  that  no  party  ia 
this  country  is  fairly  entitled  to  the  exclusive  name  ofvdemocratic.  The  government  of  the 
United  States  comes  under  the  category  of  Democracies,  in  the  general  classification  of  the  po 
litical  forms  of  human  society,  and  all  the  people  of  all  parties  are,  or  ought  to  be,  democrats. 
They  are  not  monarchists.  Technically  and  specifically  we  are  a  Republic  and  Republicans ; 
but  for  the  general  and  more  common  purposes  of  language,  both  in  political  philosophy,  and 
in  the  common  speech  of  the  world,  we  are  a  Democracy  and  Democrats.  These  are  national 
designations,  not  p»rty  titles.  The  assumption  of  these  titles  by  a  political  party,  is  a  robbery 
of  the  other  party  of  their  national  character.  It  is  investing  a  sect — in  such  a  case  self-in 
vested. — for  their  exclusive  use,  with  the  honors  which  belong  to  the  entire  Democratic  com 
munion,  in  this  country  and  elsewhere. 

§  32.   WJiigs  and  Locofocos. 

Positively  we  know  no  such  parties  in  this  country  as  Wfiigs  and  Democrats.  We  deny  that 
there  are  such.  There  are  Whigs,  and  we  maintain  that  the  Whigs  are  THE  Democrats,  if 
there  must  be  a  party  of  that  name.  Certainly,  they  are  the  true  Democrats,  if  there  be  any 
such  in  the  land.  We  mean  no  disrespect  to  the  Locofocos  by  this  party  designation.  They 
eam^  by  it  accidentally,  ias  the  name  of  Whig  was  first  acquired.  Under  these  names,  or  any 
others  not  national  and  generically  comprehensive,  the  issue  is  fairly  made,  and  always  stands, 
as  is  proper  and  important,  which  of  the  two  is  more  truly,  or  more  Democratic  than  the  other, 
according  to  the  democratic  standard  of  our  Government  and  its  institutions  ?  Neither  party, 
BO  far  as  we  know,  proposes  any  other  standard.  But  if  either  of  these  divisions  of  the  people 
is  permitted  to  wear  the  name  of  democrats,  as  an  exclusive  party  designation,  and  if  they  are 
fairly  entitled  to  it,  the  question  is  conceded,  and  the  argument  at  an  end,  as  to  which  is  dem 
ocratic,  or  more  truly  so. 

§  33.  The  cheat  and  stealth  involved  in  this  misnomer. 

The  name  of  democrats  was  stolen  by  those  who  now  claim  to  wear  it  exclusively.  They 
had  no  title  to  it.  It  is  an  American,  not  a  party  name.  In  such  an  appropriation  it  is  a 
cheat.  The  advocates  of  One-Man  Power  in  the  veto,  as  it  has  been  used  (abused)  by  our 
National  Executive,  are  Monarchists,  not  Republicans.  Much  less  are  they  Democrats.  They 
have  also  been  the  advocates  of  other  abuses  and  usurpations  of  Executive  power.  They  were 
the  first  party  in  the  country,  since  the  formation  of  our  Government,  that  set  up  and  upheld 
One-Man  Power,  and  the  most  remarkable  fact  is,  that  they  did  this  at  the  very  moment  when 
they  stole  and  put  on  the  name  of  "Democrats" !  They  have  justified  and  sustained  the 
President  of  the  United  States  in  the  use  of  monarchical  powers,  we  might  say  absolute  powers, 
which  would  have  cost  the  Sovereign  of  Great  Britain  a  throne  and  a  crown,  and  which  would 
have  revolutionized  almost  any  kingdom  in  Europe — all  under  the  name  of  "  Democracy"  f 

At  the  same  time,  and  all  along,  the  Whigs  have  resisted  these  encroachments  of  One-Maa 
Power,  and  been  the  advocates  of  popular  rights — of  true  Democracy.  Such  is  their  position 
before  the  country  at  this  moment.  It  is  for  the  rights  of  the  PEOPLE  that  they  maintain  a  per 
petual  strife.  It  is  for  this  that  Mr.  Clay  has  contended  uninterruptedly,  untiringly.  The 
rights  of  American  Democracy,  if  sacrificed  anywhere,  will  be  sacrificed  in  the  Capitol  of  the 
Republic,  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  in  the  persons  of  the  Representatives  of  the 
people.  Repeatedly  have  blows  against  democracy  been  struck  there — repeatedly  have  the 
rights  of  the  people  been  trampled  on  in  that  place  by  the  iron  heel  of  Executive  power,  with 
the  consent  and  by  the  aid  of  these  self-styled  "  Democrats"  !  It  is  to  shield  and  protect  that 
citadel  of  Democratic  power  and  of  popular  freedom,  from  these  invasions  and  irruptions,  that 
Mr.  Clay,  and  those  associated  with  him,  have  so  long  strived,  and  still  strive. 

§  34.  The  object  of  the  political  revolution  of  1840. 

It  was  solely  and  alone  to  restore  the  democracy  of  the  country — to  restore  it.  For  many 
years  it  had  been  giving  way  and  was  beino:  swallowed  up  by  Executive  power.  One  en- 

89 


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•     f    •» 

croachmcnt  after  another  had  been  made  on  the  rights  of  the  popular  and  legislative  branch  of  the 
Government,  abuses  multiplied,  usurpations  thickened,  till  the  powers  of  legislation,  directly 
or  indirectly,  by  influence  or  mandate,  chiefly  emanated  from  the  Executive  chair.  Congress, 
instead  of  originating  public  policy  and  public  measures,  and  giving  form  and  substance  to 
them,  by  its  own  independent  action,  became  a  mere  registrar  of  Executive  decrees,  a  mechan 
ics'  work-house  for  a  master  at  the  other  end  of  the  Avenue.  The  Democracy  of  the  nation 
was  prostrate — it  was  nearly  annihilated.  It  was  to  restore  the  Democratic  prerogatives  of 
Congress,  to  reassert  and  reconfirm  the  independence  of  the  national  legislature,  that  the  great 
struggle  of  1840  was  undertaken,  and  the  aim  triumphantly  achieved.  The  people  saw  that 
their  power  was  gone,  and  must  be  recovered,  and  they  came  to  the  rescue. 

§  35.   The  genius  of  Locofoco  «  Democracy." 

The  way  in  which  it  originated,  and  its  history  since,  will  show  what  it  is.  It  began  by  the 
personal  influence  of  one  man.  It  had,  therefore,  an  emanation  from  and  concentration  in  one 
point.  It  whirled  around  one  centre.  There  was  no  independence  in  the  body,  but  a  universal 
obsequiousness  to  the  soul.  Mr.  Brownson,  who  has  been  a  member  and  oracle  in  this  party, 
and  who  is  still  a  member,  says,  in  describing  this  character :  "  One  sees  the  original  every 
where.  The  evil  has  become  great  and  menacing.  We  have  lost  our  manliness ;  we  have 
sacrificed  our  independence ;  we  have  become  tame  and  servile,  afraid  to  say  that  our  souls  are 
our  own."  .  .  .  "To  keep  the  ranks  of  the  party  full,  to  prevent  members  from  breaking 
away,  and  asserting  their  independence,  appeals  are  made  to  the  lowest  and  most  corrupting 
passions  of  the  human  heart.  The  individual  who  shows  himself  a  little  uneasy,  or  disposed 
to  kick  at  the  party  traces"  (like  Mike  Walsh,  or  like  Mr.  Brownson  himself),  "  must  be  de 
nounced,  thrown  over,  and  declared  to  be  an  enemy,  and  no  longer  entitled  to  the  confidence 
of  the  party.  Thus  men  must  be  kept  in  the  party,  and  faithful  to  its  usages,  decisions,  and 
nominations,  not  by  attachment  to  its  principles  and  measures,  but  through  fear,  that,  if  they  as 
sert  their  independence,  they  will  lose  their  share  of  the  spoils." 

This  is  a  true  picture  of  the  party  from  its  origin,  by  one,  than  whom  nobody  understands  it 
better.  There  never  was  any  democracy  in  it.  From  its  character,  its  vital  and  all-pervading 
principle,  obsequiousness  and  obedience,  it  was  impossible  there  should  be.  It  came  from  *man, 
born  to  command,  and  he  infused  his  spirit  into  the  whole  machinery.  The  genius  of  Locofoco 
*  Democracy,"  therefore,  is  obsequiousness  and  servility  in  the  masses,  and  despotism  in  the 
leaders.  It  is  utterly  hostile  to  true  democracy,  and  a  suitable  foundation,  on  which  to  erect  a 
despotic  throne. 

§  36.  The  genius  of  Whig  Democracy. 

The  Whig  party  of  the  Union  is  composed  of  men,  who  have  been  long  out  of  power ;  who 
kave  been  forced  in  the  meantime  to  act  on  the  conservative  side,  that  is,  as  far  as  possible,  to 
prevent  mischief;  who  are  of  course,  and  necessarily,  Jean  men,  as  regards  the  fattening  effects 
of  office;  have  none  of  the  corruptions  which  are  at  least  supposed  to  appertain  to  a  protracted 
tenure  of  power;  and  if  such  men  can  anywhere  be  found,  may  fairly  be  regarded,  as  in  a 
reasonable  degree,  disinterested  patriots,  from  the  fact  of  their  choice  to  remain  in  the  minority 
so  long  a  period.  Principles  alone,  not  power,  have  bound  them  together.  Their  party 
organization  has  been  sustained,  not  by  the  patronage  of  office,  but  by  putting  their  hands  in 
their  own  pockets.  It  was  a  glorious  sight,  in  1840,  to  see  what  sacrifices  and  efforts  they 
could  make,  to  rescue  the  country  from  bad  hands.  The  obvious  truth  of  their  facts,  and  the 
force  of  their  arguments,  brought  a  great  majority  of  the  people  over  to  their  side,  and  they 
triumphed ;  but  treachery  has  left  them  precisely  in  the  situation  they  were  in  then.  Still 
•without  power,  still  relying  on  principles,  and  the  practical  results  of  principles,  "though 
betrayed,  not  dismayed,"  they  still  adhere,  and  press  onward. 

Every  man  in  the  Whig  ranks,  is  a  MAN — a  man  that  thinks  for  himself,  and  acts  for  him 
self — an  uncompromising  American  Democrat.  It  is  perhaps  an  evil  in  the  Whig  party,  that 
they  are  all  leaders ;  but  it  is  not  an  evil,  that  they  are  SERVILE  to  leaders.  Nobody  has  ever 
dared  to  name  in  their  ranks  that  wicked,  corrupt,  and  corrupting  maxim,  that  "  to  the  victors 
belong  the  spoils."  The  great  mass  of  them  would  never  care  who  governs  the  country,  if 
it  were  well  governed.  But  when  it  is  badly  governed,  they  resolve,  in  the  spirit  of  true 
patriots,  to  put  the  reins  in  better  hands,  that  they  may  return  to  and  prosper  in  their  own 
private  affairs,  as  independent  American  citizens — as  Democrats. 

Such,  for  the  most  part,  is  the  genius  of  Whig  Democracy.  They  recognise  no  authority 
of  leaders,  that  binds  them  to  obsequiousness ;  it  is  not  party,  but  the  country  they  go  for ;  it 
»  not  MEN,  but  PRINCIPLES ;  and  they  adopt  party  organization,  and  sustain  it,  not  as 
au  end,  but  as  means  to  an  end. 

§  37.  Democracy  will  prevail. 

And  it  will  prevail  under  that  name.  It  is  too  late  in  the  age  of  the  world,  in  history,  and 
In  the  progress  of  human  society,  to  give  another  name  to  this  thing.  That  is  the  common 

90 


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symbol  destined  to  be  employed,  throughout  the  world,  to  denote  popular  forms  of  government. 
It  is  stereotyped  in  the  public  mind  of  all  nations,  and  everybody,  everywhere,  understands  it. 

It  is  true  this  name  has  been  somewhat  confounded  in  the  practices  of  the  political  sects  of 
our  own  country,  and  we  are  perhaps  a  little  disqualified  to  judge  of  its  general  and  perma 
nent  influence.  A  portion  of  our  citizens  also  have  prejudices  in  relation  to  it,  which  it  is 
hard  to  get  over.  In  the  first  place,  those  who  were  opposed  to  the  first  party  in  this  country 
which  assumed  and  wore  this  name,  (it  was  a  party  of  no  affinity  whatever  with  the  present 
self-called  "  Democrats,")  have  not  even  yet  forgotten  their  feelings  of  disl;ke  to  it,  although 
they  may  be  at  this  moment,  and  to  a  great  extent  are  amalgamated  with  that  party.  But  the 
distaste  which  they  have  for  this  name  as  having  been  put  on  by  the  Locofocos,  is  fresh  and 
strong.  They  despise  the  hypocrisy  which  they  have  found  lurking  under  this  garb,  and 
can  hardly  help  associating  the  thing  with  the  name.  Not  unlikely  they  may  often  have  been 
heard  to  pronounce  the  name  of  "  Dem-o-crat"  with  unmitigated  contempt  and  emphatk 
scorn,  simply  because  they  think  of  the  character  that  claims  the  exclusive  use  of  it. 

We  entreat  all  such  to  look  at  this  subject  with  more  enlarged  and  more  philosophic  views. 
We  are,  personally,  fully  convinced,  that  we  do  not  mistake  in  the  political  importance  we 
attach  to  this  word.  We  have  shown  it  is  a  pure  word,  apart  from  our  oAvn  political  atmo 
sphere,  where,  we  confess,  it  has  been  somewhat  contaminated.  But  even  here,  it  is  to  a  great 
extent  purified  already,  and  is  becoming  more  so  every  day.  It  was  assumed  by  a  large  por 
tion  of  the  Whig  party  in  1840,  under  the  style  of  Democratic  Whigs,  because  they  knew  it 
belonged  to  them,  and  to  them  alone.  This  feeling  and  determination  have  been  gaining 
strength  ever  since,  and  before  the  campaign  of  1844  is  closed,  we  doubt  not  it  will  generally 
be  felt  and  acknowledged  by  the  people,  that  the  Whigs  are  the  only  true  Democrats.  It  i* 
vain  to  rely  on  common  power  of  discrimination  between  principles  and  names.  Every  prac 
tical  man  ought  to  know,  that  names  embody  principles,  and  are  the  symbols  of  principles  to 
the  mind.  The  word,  Democracy,  is  a  universal  symbol,  of  uniform  import,  and  no  power  can 
arrest  or  limit  its  influence.  It  will  prevail  over  everything,  and  carry  all  before  it. 

§  38.  The  duty  of  the,  press,  and  of  common  speech. 

It  is  perhaps  true,  that  half  of  the  Whig  press,  and  half  the  Whigs  in  the  land,  are  at  this 
time  in  the  habit  of  calling  the  Locofocos  Democrats,  of  speaking  of  them  as  the  Democracy, 
of  honoring  their  party  with  the  title  of  Democratic,  and  of  using  the  word  in  all  its  forms  in 
this  application.  Are  they  aware  of  the  consequence,  and  that  they  are  probably  doing  more 
to  help  the  Locofocos  by  this  recognition  of  their  claims,  than  all  the  counter  influence  they 
can  throw  into  the  other  scale,  by  any  means  whatever?  We  are  sure,  if  they  thought  as 
we  do,  believed  as  we  do,  they  would  from  principle,  from  a  sense  of  duty,  abstain  at  once 
and  for  ever  from  such  an  application  of  these  terms.  It  is  unjust  to  all  parties — to  the  Loco 
focos  themselves ;  for  they,  of  all  men,  are  least  entitled  to  it.  It  is  a  cheat  they  have  palmed 
on  the  community,  by  which  they  acquired  and  retained  their  power  for  twelve  years,  and  by 
which,  sooner  or  later,  if  permitted  to  continue  the  fraud,  they  will  rise  again,  and  rule  in 
spite  of  opposition.  In  1840  they  were  beaten,  because,  through  the  democratic  symbols  of 
"Log  Cabin  and  Hard  Cider,"  in  connexion  with  the  facts  brought  home  to  the  people,  the 
people  saw  on  which  side  the  true  democracy  was.  And  we  shall  doubtless  triumph  in  this 
campaign  of  1844,  because  the  democracy  of  Henry  Clay  is  unquestioned  and  unassailable. 
But  still,  as  revealed  by  the  story  in  the  first  section  of  this  Tract,  Mr.  Van  Buren  and  his 
party  "rely"  on  the  word  "Democracy"  and  on  stigmatizing  their  opponents  as  "Federalists." 
They  understand  the  potency  of  these  words.  Believe  it,  dear  friends,  they  have  done  more, 
and  will  do  more,  by  this  fraud,  than  by  all  other  means  whatever.  Strip  them  of  that  name, 
and  we  put  the  question — Who  believes  that  they  could  live  a  day  ?  Without  that  name,  they 
never  would  have  succeeded.  How,  then,  can  a  true  Whig  be  so  suicidal  as  to  award  it  to 
them,  in  the  press,  or  in  common  speech  ?  They  have  a  name,  Locofoco,  accidentally  ac 
quired,  as  the  name  of  Whig  was  originally,  and  there  is  no  discourtesy  in  using  that  desig 
nation.  They  then  stand  upon  their  naked  principles  and  practices,  and  the  issue  is  fairly 
made  before  the  people,  Which  are  the  true  and  best  Democrats  ? 

§  39.  The  importance  of  this  question  in  its  relation  to  immigrants. 

It  appears  by  official  records,  that  the  number  of  immigrants  who  arrived  at  the  port  of 
New  York,  from  August,  1832,  to  August,  1842,  ten  years,  was  507,131.  We  have  not  the 
means  of  knowing  what  proportion  this  bears  to  the  entire  immigration  of  foreigners  into  the 
country ;  but  we  have  noticed  immigrations,  by  way  of  Canada,  for  some  years,  which,  at  the 
same  rate,  would  make  an  aggregate  in  ten  years,  but  little  short  of  this  statement  for 
New  York.  But  suppose  the  average  immigration  into  the  country  is  fifty  thousand  a  yeai, 
which  was  the  average  for  ten  years,  at  New  York  alone,  as  above ;  and  suppose  that  one 
half  of  these  become  voters  by  naturalization;  we  then  have  an  aggregate  acquisition  of 
voters,  from  foreign  parts,  every  four  years,  not  much  short  of  the  majority  which  elected 
General  Harrison!  We  have  before  shown,  that  all  these,  or  nearly  all,  come  here  foi 

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Democracy  as  opposed  to  Monarchy.,  and  that  they  will  be  Democrats.  Most  of  them  are 
ignorant  of  our  language,  all  are  ignorant  of  our  state  of  society,  they  know  nothing  of  the 
principles  which  distinguish  political  parties  here,  but  they  are  governed  chiefly  by  the  name* 
which  parties  bear.  -  The  party  that  is  called  democratic,  if  there  be  such  a  party,  they  are 
sure  to  join.  What  other  rule  can  they  go  by  ?  And  such,  we  generally  find,  is  the  result. 
Is  not  this  fact  alone  sufficient  for  all  the  purposes  of  our  argument  ? 

§  40.  The  effect  of  this  name  on  native  Americans. 

It  is  impossible  to  tell  how  great  it  is,  but  it  can  not  be  small.  We  know,  that  the  head  and 
leaders  of  the  Locofoco  party  "rely"  upon  it,  and  our  conviction  is,  that  they  rely  upon  it  chiefly. 
We  do  not  believe  they  would  make  another  effort,  if  this  name,  by  any  means,  could  be  taken 
away.  They  are  shrewd  men,  and  understand  this  matter  well.  Observe  how  they  manage  in 
their  press  and  speech:  We  are  the  "Democrats;"  they  (the  Whigs)  are  "Federalists  ;>3  and 
for  twelve  years,  they  made  the  people  believe  it,  notwithstanding  that,  all  this  while,  they  were 
acting  on  the  very  principle,  which  made  the  old  Federal  party  obnoxious,  to  wit,  a  strong  and 
overpowering  Executive,  while  Mr.  Clay  and  the  Whigs,  with  all  their  might,  were  opposing  it, 
and  laboring  for  democracy.  The  moral  influence  of  this  name,  in  favor  of  the  Locofocos,  so 
long  as  it  is  awarded  to  them,  must  be  immense,  and  we  do  not  think  it  would  be  overstating 
it,  if  we  were  to  put  it  down  at  fifty  per  cent.,  half  of  their  entire  strength. 

Is  there  not  good  reason,  then,  why  Mr.  Van  Buren  should  "rely"  on  this  name?  Mr. 
Brownson  asks :  "  Who  ever  caught  the  weasel  asleep  ?"  If  they  are  entitled  to  the  name, 
let  them  have  it.  But  we  have  shown  it  is  a  fraud. 

§  41.  "Democrats"  the  friends  of  the  laboring  and  poorer  classes. 

This  has  not  only  been  a  standing  text,  but  there  has  been  much  effective  preaching  from 
it,  by  the  Locofoco  "  Democracy."  But  the  laboring  and  poorer  classes  have  made  an  impor 
tant  discovery  in  three  particulars.  1.  That  they  have  been  made  tools  of,  as  described  in  our 
quotations  from  Mr.  Brownson,  who,  from  his  long  standing  and  public  labors  in  the  Loco 
foco  party,  will  no  doubt  be  accepted  as  a  very  credible  witness.  2.  That  Whig  policy  and 
Whig  measures  ore  best  for  them.  3.  They  like  that  democracy  which  does  them  most 
good;  which  gives  them  food,  clothing,  and  a  comfortable  home,  instead  of  promises.  They 
have  at  least  begun  to  make  this  discovery,  and  are  advancing  in  it  rapidly.  The  tariff,  a 
great  Whig  measure,  is  diffusing  its  blessings  everywhere,  and  gladdening  the  hearts  of  the 
laboring  and  poorer  classes.  We  have  just  noticed  the  remarkable  fact,  that  a  little  girl,  in  a 
Cotton  Bag  Factory  at  Cincinnati,  earns  six  dollars  for  five  and  a  half  days'  labor  every  week, 
and  that  there  are  fifty-five  females  and  forty-five  males  working  in  the  same  factory,  with 
similar  results.  (See  also  our  tract  on  the  Tariff,) 

Take  away  the  name,  by  which  the  Loeofocos  have  deceived  the  people,  and  their  powei 
is  gone. 

§  42.  The  great  Indexes  of  Democracy. 

That  party  which  seeks  to  maintain  and  defend  the  prerogatives  of  the  popular  branch  of 
the  Government  against  the  encroachments  and  usurpations  of  the  Executive,  and  to  guard  the 
Constitutional  rights  of  the  people  in  the  persons  of  their  immediate  representatives,  is  the 
democratic  party.  All  know,  that  this  has  been  the  position  of  Mr.  Clay,  and  of  the  Whigs, 
and  that  their  opponents  have  been  constantly  seeking  to  strengthen  the  Executive  in  its  inva 
sions  of  the  rights  of  Congress.  The  former  have  constantly  and  steadily  braced  up  against 
the  Executive,  in  their  defence  of  the  democratic  powers  of  the  Government ;  while  the  latter 
have  as  constantly  and  as  steadily  prompted  and  aided  the  Executive  in  all  its  attempts  to  cur 
tail  and  abridge  those  powers.  To  secure  the  exercise  of  the  powers  of  Government  by  the 
people,  in  all  that  the  Constitution  prescribes  and  warrants,  has  been  the  undeviating  aim  of 
Mr.  Clay,  in  all  his  public  life  and  labors;  and  in  doing  this,  for  many  years  past,  he  has  beea 
found  in  uninterrupted  conflict  with  the  Executive  and  the  Locofocos.  These  facts  are  signs, 
indexes,  and  infallible  proofs  of  democracy  in  those  who  thus  take  the  side  of  the  people ;  and  no 
less  are  they  conclusive  evidence  of  the  lack  of  democracy  in  those  who  take  the  side  of  th« 
Executive  against  the  people. 

§  43.  The  Veto  Power. 

This  is  but  one  of  the  many  forms,  in  which  the  Chief  Executive  of  this  country  has  invaded 
tie  prerogatives  of  democracy,  in  violation  of  the  design  of  the  Constitution.  It  is  a  pure 
monarchical  power,  and  is  liable  to  be  very  momentous  in  its  results.  It  has  actually  been  so 
in  our  case.  The  framers  of  the  Constitution  thought  the  occasions  for  its  proper  exercise 
would  be  very  rare,  and  it  was  even  supposed  at  the  time,  that  it  would  scarcely  be  used  at  all, 
on  account  of  the  great  responsibility.  It  has  not  been  used  by  the  Sovereign  of  Great  Britain 
for  more  than  a  century,  and  probably  never  will  be  used  there  again.  But  with  us  it  has 
been  used  as  wantonly  as  if  there  were  no  democracy  in  the  Constitution,  or  in  the  country,  or 
ever  could  be,  to  call  this  absolute  power  to  account ;  and  what  is  most  remarkable  is,  that  the 

92 


13 

.Locofoco  "  Democracy"  should  be  its  chief  advocate  and  defender  !  Its  most  daring  use  com 
menced  under  the  Locofoco  Dynasty,  and  it  has  been  cherished  by  that  party  ever  since.  But 
nothing  could  be  more  inconsistent  with  the  spirit,  or  more  hostile  to  the  rights  of  democracy. 
An  examination  into  the  history  of  the  formation  of  the  Constitution  will  show,  that  the  chief 
design  of  the  Veto  power  was  to  protect  the  Executive  from  the  encroachments  of  the  Legisla 
tive  branch  of  the  Government ;  whereas,  it  has  been  chiefly  employed,  in  the  later  periods  of 
our  history,  in  an  aggressive  movement  from  the  Executive,  on  the  rights  of  Legislative  au 
thority,  to  nullify  its  functions ;  in  other  words,  to  nullify  the  democratic  powers  of  the  Con 
stitution. 

It  has  been  stated  by  English  authorities,  that  the  only  practical  benefit  of  the  Veto  Power 
in  the  British  Crown,  is  the  knowledge,  that  it  can  be  used  in  defence  of  the  prerogatives  of 
the  throne.  This,  probably,  will  be  thought  quite  as  far  as  it  ought  to  go ;  and  such,  as  above 
recognised,  appears  to  have  been  the  main  design  of  this  power  in  our  Constitution,  to  wit,  to 
protect  the  Executive.  But,  as  there  has  been  no  occasion  for  that  in  our  history,  and  some  of 
our  Presidents  having  taken  it  for  granted,  that  this  power  was  not  given  to  lie  idle,  have  used 
it  freely  and  wantonly  in  encroachments  on  democratic  prerogatives.  Mr.  Tyler  gave  notice, 
in  his  first  message  to  Congress,  that  there  was  $uch  a  power  in  the  Constitution !  Therefore, 
my  dear  democratic  friends,  guardians  of  the  people's  rights,  take  care  what  you  do !  We 
marked  it  at  the  time  as  an  ominous  foreboding,  and  so  it  turned  out.  He  had  at  that  moment, 
und  even  earlier  than  that,  as  we  may  hereafter  have  occasion  to  show,  made  up  his  mind  to 
use  it. 

§  44.  The.  confusion  of  political  parties. 

As  was  sagaciously  and  shrewdly  calculated  upon  by  those  most  interested,  a  majority  of  the 
people  of  this  country,  honest  and  unsophisticated,  took  for  granted,  that  the  leaders  of  a  par 
ty,  coming  into  the  field,  would  not  call  themselves  democrats,  if  they  were  not  so ;  and  it  was 
generally  supposed,  that  this  new  party  was  only  a  continuation  of  the  old  democratic  party, 
and  that  it  occupied  the  same  position  ;  whereas,  it  was  the  reverse,  or  opposite  position.  What 
Mr.  Clay  said,  in  reply  to  Mr.  Calhoun,  that  "it  does  not  hold  a  solitary  principle  in  common 
with  the  Republican  (democratic)  party  of  1798,"  was  perfectly  true.  It  was  in  the  antipo 
des,  at  the  opposite  pole,  in  relation  to  that  party.  It  was  moreover  true,  that  this  new  party 
had  adopted— it  is  equally  true,  that  it  has  uniformly  carried  out — the  most  obnoxious  princi 
ple  of  fhe  old  Federal  party,  viz. :  "  A  strong,  powerful,  and  energetic  Executive,"  and  that 
with  this  party  still  resides  all  the  Federalism  there  is  in  the  land,  which  in  their  case  is  a 
reality,  whatever  may  have  been  the  fact  in  the  first  case. 

It  was  also  supposed  by  the  people,  that  the  party,  since  called  Whig,  was  awfo'-democratie, 
and  that  they  succeeded  to  the  Federalists,  and  inherited  their  principles ;  whereas,  they  were 
the  only  legitimate  successors  of  the  Jeffersonian,  afterward  Madisonian  school,  and  were  op 
posed  to  this  new  self-styled.  "  democracy,"  because  they  were  opposed  to  Federalism,  and  the 
worst  kind  of  Federalism,  as  it  was  developed  under  the  Locofoco  Dynasty. 

Such  has  been  the  entire  and  absolute  confusion  of  political  parties  in  this  country,  growing 
out  of  the  fraud  practised  in  the  assumption  of  the  name  of  "Democrats"  by  the  Locofocos, 
who  were  able,  by  the  irresistible  sway  of  a  popular  Chieftain,  to  maintain  it  for  a  protracted 
period.  On  this  account,  the  two  great  parties  have  all  this  while  been  in  false  positions  be 
fore  the  people,  and  it  was  not  till  1840,  that  this  fact  began  to  be  understood ;  nor  is  it  per 
fectly  understood  even  now. 

§  45.  The  unscrupulousness  of  Locofocoism. 

The  fraud  of  calling  itself,  and  claiming  the  title  of  democratic,  was  bad  enough.  They  who 
fixed  upon  this  name  for  themselves  and  the  party,  knew  perfectly  well,  that  it  was  a  false  flag, 
and  they  intended  to  deceive  by  it.  But  this  was  innocent  compared  with  the  second  part  of 
their  offence,  in  calling  their  opponents  Federalists — a  name  which,  in  truth,  belonged  to 
themselves.  The  utiscrnpul-ousness  with  which  it  was  first  done,  with  which  it  has  been  main' 
tained,  and  is  practised  to  this  day,  is  a  most  remarkable  fact.  The  manner  of  doing  it,  all 
along,  betrays  a  consciousness  of  the  fraud.  Else,  why  crowd  every  column  of  their  newspa 
pers,  fill  every  speech  and  all  their  common  talk,  with  these  names  and  epithets,  thus  applied  ? 
That  is  not  the  way  of  honest  people.  When  a  case  is  evident,  and  when  a  question  is  set 
tled,  it  is  quite  unnecessary  to  be  always  affirming  it.  But  they  "  re/y"  upon  the  cheat,  know 
ing  it  to  be  such.  They  know  that  they  are  always  exposed  to  detection,  and  must  therefore 
anticipate  all  by  the  repetition  of  false  asseveration.  The  people  generally  are  honest,  and 
can  only  be  held  in  their  state  of  deception,  by  a  constant  echo  of  that  which  first  led  them 
into  orror,  and  gained  their  misgiven  confidence. 

The  Locofoco  press  and 'leaders  are  also  equally  unscrupulous  in  their  statements  of  fact,  to 
maintain  their  cause.  We  are  aware,  it  may  be  replied,  that  this  is  always  the  way  with  poli 
ticians,  and  that  it  is  equally  true  of  both  sides.  But  there  is  an  answer  to  this,  which  few 
people  have  thought  of.  It  is  this : — The  facts  which  the  Whigs  have  to  state  of  the  Loco- 

93 


14 

focos,  are  so  perfectly  astounding,  that  they  have  no  occasion,  and  no  temptation,  to  go  beyond 
the  truth,  but  are  forced,  in  prudence,  to  stop  short  of  it,  or  very  seldom  to  give  the  whole, 
lest  they  should  be  disbelieved.  This  we  know  to  be  true  from  our  own  experience ;  and  we 
have  never  known  a  statement  insisted  upon  by  the  Whig  press,  or  often  repeated,  after  it 
was  proved  incorrect.  This  is  strong  proof  of  the  purity  of  a  political  party,  and  we  think 
it  is  true.  The  Whigs  have  no  need  of  weapons  against  their  opponents,  which  facts  do  not 
furnish ;  whereas  they  are  constantly  assailed  by  naked  assertions  destitute  of  truth. 
§  46.  The  morals  of  Locofocoism. 

It  results  from  a  moral  necessity,  growing  out  of  the  history  of  the  thing,  that  it  should  be 
corrupt.  Founded  in  untruth,  erected  and  sustained  by  it,  it  is  impossible  it  should  be  pure. 
The  system  of  party  tactics  introduced  by  General  Jackson,  and  carried  out  by  Mr.  Van  Buren, 
is  one  of  utter  and  revolting  corruption.  Take  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Brownson,  before  given, 
who  has  been  and  is  yet  one  of  the  party,  and  who  has  made  politics  a  study  all  this  time,  who 
has  been  looked  up  to  by  the  party  as  an  oracle,  and  whom,  we  presume,  no  man,  of  any  party, 
will  accuse  of  dishonesty,  and  was  there  ever  a  fouler  picture  of  moral  loathsomeness  pre 
sented  as  a  subject  of  consideration  ? 

§  47.  Repudiation. 

Out  of  this  infected,  foul  atmosphere,  has  grown  this  MONSTER  of  American  public  morals. 
Who  will  deny,  that  it  is  the  sole  offspring  of  Locofocoism  ?  Fortunately  for  the  Whig  party, 
in  this  case,  they  have  nothing  to  prove  or  disprove.  The  Locofocos  not  only  father  the  child, 
but  they  glory  in  his  moral  qualities,  and  think  him  a  prodigiously  smart  fellow.  While  the 
flesh  of  this  nation  is  smarting  and  writhing  under  the  lashes  which  the  public  opinion  of  the 
world  is  inflicting  upon  us  for  this  great  offence,  its  authors  are  dancing  and  singing  around 
the  fires  of  their  barbarous  faith. 

§  48.  Nullification. 

See  our  Tract,  No.  I.,  page  14,  for  a  statement  of  the  Districting  law  of  Congress,  and  its 
Constituional  authority.  Can  anything  be  imagined  more  utterly  subversive  of  all  law  and 
order,  or  more  radically  revolutionary,  de  facto,  and  in  its  tendencies,  than  the  action  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  28th  (present)  Congress,  in  trampling  that  law  under  foot  ? 
Admitting  that  the  law  is  unconstitutional,  as  the  nullifiers  say  it  is,  still  it  is  law,  till  the 
proper  Constitutional  authorities  shall  have  reversed  it.  The  Constitutional  action  of  a  Con 
stitutional  body,  (that  is,  acting  according  to  its  established  rules,)  is  Constitutional,  in  its  bind 
ing  force  and  effect,  till  a  Constitutional  Cour^,  whose  province  it  is  to  determine  that  question, 
shall  have  decided  otherwise.  It  sometimes  happens,  that 'the  judiciary  does  so  decide.  But 
their  decision  has  no  retrospective,  but  only  a  prospective  effect.  The  operation  of  the  law, 
previous  to  such  decision,  is  allowed  to  be  Constitutional  and  valid,  because  it  was  the  Con 
stitutional  action  of  a  Constitutional  body,  notwithstanding  they  erred,  according  to  the  judg-' 
ment  of  the  judiciary,  which  is  a  final  umpire.  Such  is  the  necessity  of  society.  If  any  per 
son  or  persons,  or  State,  may  act  on  the  assumption,  that  a  law  of  Congress  is  7m//  and  void, 
because  in  their  opinion,  it  is  unconstitutional,  where  are  we,  but  in  a  state  of  anarchy  ?  And 
yet  we  are  often  astonished  to  hear  members  of  Congress,  in  their  places  on  the  floor  of  legis 
lation,  say  this,  and  act  upon  it,  as  they  did  in  admitting  members  of  the  present  House  of 
Representatives,  contrary  to  law !  Is  not  this  nullification  by  the  law-makers  themselves  ?  It 
is  Locofocoism — not  of  the  people,  but  of  leaders.  The  people  know  it  is  wrong. 
§  49.  Locofocoism  and  Tylerism. 

Some  one  has  suggested,  that  John  Tyler's  Administration  should  not  be  embodied  with  our 
history,  but  put  in  a  parenthesis.  But  it  will  yet  be  recognised  as  a  legitimate  sprout  of  an 
old  trunk.  One  of  the  "  GUARD"  said  to  us,  while  we  were  remonstrating  with  him  against 
the  course  about  to  be  pursued,  before  it  was  begun,  "  THE  PEOPLE  LIKE  BOLD  STROKES  or 
POLICY" — by  which  we  understood  him  to  intimate,  that  they  liked  such  things  as  General 
Jackson  did,  and  that  Mr.  Tyler  was  going  "  to  tread  in  his  footsteps,"  make  himself  a  third 
party,  and  be  re-ekcted.  We  are  perfectly  sure  we  did  not  misunderstand  this  conversation, 
and  that  such  was  its  point  and  drift ;  and  we  moreover  believe,  that  it  was  a  true  echo  of 
the  sentiments  of  the  White  House  at  that  moment.  General  Jackson  had  led  off  the  nation ; 
why  could  not  John  Tyler  ?  Doubtless  this  conclusion  was  a  non  sequitur — a  thing  that  did 
not  follow  of  course. 

But  the  facts  show  how  much  example  had  to  djo  with  it.  The  nation  had  been  once  and  a 
long  time  deceived  ;  why  could  they  not  be  deceived  again  ?  Faith  with  the  people  had  been 
broken  with  impunity,  and  with  great  success ;  and  the  reason  seemed  to  be  plausible,  that  one 
might  and  could  do  it  as  well  as  another.  Indeed,  if  the  history  referred  to,  proved  anything, 
it  would  seem  to  prove,  that  deceiving  the  people,  is  the  best  way  to  prosper.  "  Sold 
strokes  of  policy,"  was  certainly  the  language  employed  with  us,  in  justification  of  the  course. 

We  have  never  for  a  moment  doubted,  that  Tylerism  is  Locofocoism  gone  to  seed,  though  the 
latter,  as  a  stock,  has  shaken  off  the  former  as  its  fruit.  Dishonesty  begets  dishonesty,  and 

94, 


15 

treachery  to  the  interests  of  the  country  in  one  case,  for  selfish  ends,  if  prosperous,  will 
tempt  to  treachery  in  another,  for  like  ends. 

§  50.  The  great  error  of  the  Whigs,  Whig  party,  and  Whig  press. 

Look  at  the  Whig  press,  and  listen  to  the  common  talk  of  Whigs.  In  large  portions  of  the 
East,  in  some  portions  of  the  West,  not  a  little  in  the  South,  and  more  or  less  all  over  the 
country,  the  Whig  press,  and  Whigs  in  conversation,  speak  of  Whigs  and  Democrats,  the 
Whig  party  and  Democratic  party,  Whig  ticket  and  Democratic  ticket,  Whig  votes  and  Demo 
cratic  votes,  &c.,  &c.  We  hope  we  have  said  enough  to  show,  that  this  is  not  only  a  great 
mistake,  but  absolutely  suicidal.  The  Whigs  may  toil  and  sweat  in  this  way,  to  row  their 
boat  against  the  current ;  but,  if  they  will  look  at  the  trees  on  the  shore,  they  will  see  they 
are  oil  the  while  going  down  stream,  except  as  now  and  then  a  breeze  of  "Log  Cabin  and 
Hard  Cider,"  or  such  a  name  as  Henry  Clay  may  come  to  fill  their  sails  and  help  them.  With 
a  favorable  breeze,  or  without  one,  they  are  all  the  while  toiling  against  a  strong  and  irre 
sistible  tide  of  nature.  The  world  has  pronounced  in  favor  of  Democracy,  and  is  resolved  to 
have  it.  The  great  majority  of  the  people  of  this  country  are  Democrats,  honest  Democrats,  and 
always  will  be,  unless  the  stealth  and  frauds  of  Locofocoism  shall  succeed  in  bringing  them 
under  a  despotism.  It  is  of  no  use  to  say,  that  the  people  will  distinguish  principles  from 
names,  so  long  as  the  Locofocos  are  called  democrats.  The  word,  Democracy,  is  the  symbol 
of  Democracy  all  the  world  over,  and  no  power  can  make  it  otherwise.  If  it  be  said,  that  we 
underrate  the  intelligence  of  the  people  by  these  remarks,  it  is  not  true.  We  only  give  them 
credit  for  honesty.  They  have  a  right  to  take  things  as  they  are  called,  and  there  is  no  other 
honest  rule.  It  is  the  Locofoco  leaders  alone  who  underrate' the  intelligence  of  the  people,  by 
the  frauds  they  practise  upon  them.  They  assume  this  want  of  intelligence,  and  act  accor 
dingly,  and  the  people  are  betrayed,  not  for  want  of  discernment,  but  by  their  easy  confidence. 
The  people,  as  a  body,  are  not  politicians ;  much  less  are  they  abstractionists  ;  but  they  take 
tilings  by  their  names,  and  go  straight  ahead. 

In  1840,  the  people  began  to  see,  what  is  the  fact,  that  Locofocoism  is  servility  in  the  masses 
and  despotism  in  the  leaders.  But  the  sheepskin  was  only  lifted  from  the  head  of  the  wolf. 
It  requires  to  be  snatched  entirely  off. 

§  51.  How  to  set  it  right. 

1.  Let  the  Whig  press  be  reformed  in  this  particular.  It  would  do  much  less  hurt  by  advo 
cating  Locofoco  principles,  than  by  calling  Locofocos  Democrats.  The  principles,  in  their  naked 
form,  will  not  bear  scrutiny,  and  are  generally  a  sufficient  answer  to  themselves.  But  wrap 
them  up  in  the  name  of  Democracy-  and  they  will  .mislead  the  majority  of  the  people,  simply 
because  the  people  are  honest,  anl  take  things  by  their  names.  2.  Let  the  Whig  press  en 
deavor  to  set  this  whole  matter  in  its  true  light,  debate  the  question,  and  dispute  the  point. 
3.  Let  all  Whigs,  everywhere,  scrupulously  abstain  from  applying  these  terms  to  Locofocos, 
show  why  it  ought  not  to  be  done,  and  if  necessary  to  counterbalance  the  fraud  of  their  oppo 
nents,  let  them  take  and  wear  the  name  themselves,  as  their  right.  It  has  already  been  done 
extensively.  Let  it  be  done  universally,  and  it  will  be  an  approximation  to  justice.  In  the 
end,  it  will  cure  the  evil,  4,  Show  Mr.  Clay's  position,  historically,  in  the  ranks  of  true  de 
mocracy  ;  where  he  was  under  the  Administration  of  Mr.  Jefferson  ;  where  under  Mr.  Madi 
son  ;  and  how  faithfully  he  has  fought  the  battles  of  Democracy,  under  the  Locofoco  Dynasty, 
against  One-Man  Power,  against  Executive  encroachments  on  the  democratic  prerogatives  of 
the  Constitution,  as  vested  in  the  Representatives  of  the  people,  in  the  legislative  branch  of  the 
Government.  5.  Show,  that  the  Whigs  have  occupied  this  position,  all  along,  and  still  occupy 
it ;  and  that  Whig  measures  are  for  the  whole  people,  against  the  claims  of  officeholders  and 
public  agents.  6.  Show,  that  the  genius,  doctrines,  and  practice  of  Locofocoism,  are  alike 
hostile  to  liberty  and  democracy.  All  these  things  are  manifest,  and  the  facts  need  only  be 
cited,  to  be  felt. 

§  52.  Apology. 

It  is  with  some  diffidence,  that  we  have  ventured  on  the  suggestions  of  these  pages.  W8 
trust,  however,  we  shall  not  be  deemed  presumptions  in  hoping  that  they  will  have  some  in 
fluence  ;  that  the  Whis:s  will  see  and  feel  the  false  position  they  have  occupied  before  the 
people,  so  far  as  they  have  awarded  the  name  of  Democrats  to  their  opponents ;  that,  from 
a  sense  of  justice  to  the  public,  to  all  parties,  from  principle,  from  conscience,  they  will  pause 
and  check  themselves,  before  they  allow  this  name,  in  such  an  application,  to  flow  from  their 
pens,  or  fall  from  their  lips ;  that  they  will  see  what  is  due  to  themselves,  and  to  their  cause ; 
that  they  will  challenge  the  name  of  democrats  as  properly  belonging  to  the  Whigs  alone,  and 
•how  the  reasons  ;  and  then  may  we  hope,  that  things  will  not  only  get  righted,  but  stay  put. 

§  53.  Importance  of  symbols. 

Whig  democracy  prevailed  in  1840,  in  our  opinion,  only  because  it  was  believed  to  be 
true  democracy.  We  are'also  persuaded,  it  can  only  prevail  now  and  ultimately  for  the  same 

95 


16 


care  \vho  makes  its  laws."  Let  it  not,  however,  be  supposed  we  recommend  drinking.  We 
only  speak  of  "Hard  Cider"  as  a  symbol.  Doubtless,  there  will  be  many  new  and  appropriate 
devices.  The  Poetry  of  symbols  is  the  natural  language  of  the  heart — the  first  and  everstand- 
ing  altar  of  enthusiasm. 

§  54.  Mr.  Clay  as  the  Candidate  for  the  Presidency. 

It  is  fortunate  for  the  Whig  democracy  of  the  country,  that  the  democracy  of  their  candidate 
for  the  Presidency,  is  so  legible  and  apparent  in  the  chapter  of  his  public  life.  It  may  sur 
prise  some  of  the  Whigs,  but  it  will  be  a  poser  to  the  Locofocos,  to  find,  that  nowhere  in  the 
republic  can  be  found,  among  our  public  men,  an  American  democrat  from  the  stump,  so  con 
sistent,  so  firm,  so  unchangeable,  so  uniform,  amid  all  the  fluctuations  of  parties,  that  have 
characterized  our  history.  THERE  HE  is,  the  SAME  under  Jefferson,  Madison,  Monroe, 
J.  Q.  Adams,  Jackson,  Van  Buren,  Tyler — always  and  invariably  the  uncompromising  Advo 
cate  of  democracy — of  the  people's  rights,  against  the  encroachments  of  Executive  power ; 
always  defending  American  interests  against  foreign  interests ;  always  advocating  protection 
for  American  labor  and  industry ;  always  toiling  for  the  welfare  and  glory  of  his  own  country; 
always  sympathizing,  not  only  with  American  democracy,  but  with  democracy  in  every  part  of 
the  globe,  where  the  people  were  oppressed,  or  struggling  for  freedom;  always  the  defender 
of  the  democracy  of  the  Constitution,  as  the  organ  and  instrument  of  the  democracy  of  the 
country ;  always  taking  in  charge  the  interests  of  the  masses,  not  only  for  the  equity  of  the 
principle,  but  as  the  surest  way  of  promoting  the  general  welfare ;  the  same  in  defeat  as  in 
success,  in  adversity  as  in  prosperity,  under  the  dark  clouds  of  calumny  as  in  the  bright  sun 
of  popular  favor ;  never  disheartened,  never  weary,  never  flagging ;  but  ever  prompting  and 
cheering  the  nation  onward  to  honorable  fame  and  great  achievement. 

The  Locofocos  know  full  well,  that  they  can  not  impeach  the  democracy  of  Henry  Clay, 
nor  blast  the  reputation  he  has  won  in  the  service  of  his  country,  and  there  is  nothing  they 
fear  so  much  as  the  word,  democracy,  in  such  an  application.  Their  trade  in  detraction, 
viLfl.'i  i.on.  and  slander,  will  avail  them  little  on  such  a  mark.  Their  only  task  is  now  to  hold 
on  Ught  Ji3  garment  which  they  stole.  We  shall  see,  ere  long,  whether  they  do  not  stand 
shi/erinj  n  the  cold,  or  burning  in  the  sun,  for  lack  of  a  covering. 

§  55.  Sum  of  the  matter. 

The  result  of  the  whole  i<? — 1.  That  Locofocoism  is  a  v&w  system  of  party  tactics,  never  be 
fore  known  to  the  country,  having  no  politics  in  particular,  except  such  as  lead  to  power  and 
the  spoils  of  office.  2.  That  the  leaders  only  are  benefited,  while  the  people  are  made  tools 
of,  and  necessarily  injured.  3.  That  it  is  chiefly  indebted  for  its  success,  to  the  assumption  of 
a  false  name  for  itself,  and  to  bestowing  a  false  one  on  its  opponents.  4.  That  it  still  "  relies" 
on  the  continuance  of  this  fraud  for  future  success. 

That  it  is  a  new  system,  will  be  apparent  to  the  slightest  reflection  on  its  origin,  rise,  and 
singular  developments.  That  it  has  no  principle,  but  the  profit  of  the  Oligarchs,  is  demon 
strated  by  the  facts  of  our  history  since  its  advent.  That  the  people  are  injured,  behold  the 
devastations  and  overthrow  of  our  national  prosperity  under  its  rule.  That  its  success  is  at 
tributable  to  the  cause  we  have  assigned,  observe  the  facts  we  have  recited.  And  that  they 
still  rely  on  this,  take  their  own  word  for  it. 

§  56.  The  way  to  do  it. 

ONE  thing,  all,  doubtless,  will  agree  in,  to  wit,  that  to  have  a  good  crop  in  the  autumn  of 
1844,  the  seed  can  not  be  put  in  the  ground  too  soon.  It  is  surprising,  that  the  importance  of 
early  efforts  to  inform  the  people,  is  not  more  deeply,  more  practically  felt  by  those  whose 
appropriate  business  it  is  to  put  the  means  in  their  hands.  The  Locofocos  have  nothing  to 
gain,  but  everything  to  lose,  by  debate  before  the  people.  In  every  important  position  they 
occupy,  they  are  forced  to  defend,  and  they  are  exceedingly  vulnerable,  while  the  Whigs  oc 
cupy  precisely  the  position  they  did  in  1840,  viz,  carrying  the  war  into  Africa.  All  the  facts 
and  principles  which  gave  the  Whigs  triumph  then,  are  now  more  clearly  brought  out,  more 
impressively  stated,  and  are  in  all  respects  more  available  for  effect.  It  only  requires,  that 
they  should  be  thrown  into  the  lap,  and  put  under  the  nose  of  the  people.  Let  the  Locos  fire 
back.  It  is  only  the  fire  of  a  retreating,  discomfited  foe.  Their  last  rally  is  a  forlorn  hope. 
Give  the  people- ammunition,  and  let  the  word  go  round, — "Pick  your  flints,  and  try  it  again." 
REMEMBER — all  they  want  is  AMMUNITION,  IN  GOO*)  TIME.  "  WHIGS  !" — cried  he,  whose 
voice  for  forty  years  had  been  heard  from  the  high  places  of  the  land,  now  speaking  to  his 
neighbors,  near  his  own  hearth,  the  9th  of  June,  1842 — " WHIGS! — AROUSE! — AWAKE! — 

SHAKE  OFF  THE  DEW-DROPS  THAT  GLITTER  ON  YOUR  GARMENTS,  AND  ONCE  MORE  MARCH  TO 
BATTLE  AJTD  TO  VICTORY." 


THE 

JUNITJS  TRACTS. 

£»*      «o^;  No.  vii.    --^jsa-*^ 

MARCH.]  PUBLISHED  EVERY  SECOND  MONTH.  [1844. 


LABOE  AID  CAPITAL. 


BY  JUNIUS. 

Author  of  "  THE  CRISIS  OF  THE  COUNTRY,"  and  other  Tracts  of  1840. 

Price,  3  cents  single,  $2  50  cts.  per  100,  or  $20  per  1000. 

TRACTS  ALREADY  PUBLISHED  [MARCH,  1844]. 
No.     I.  THE  TEST,  OR  PARTIES  TRIED  BY  THEM.  ACTS. 
"     II.  THE  CURRENCY. 
"    III.  THE  TARIFF. 
«    IV.  LIFE  OF  HENRY  CLAY. 
"      V.  POLITICAL  ABOLITION. 
«    VI.  DEMOCRACY. 
«  VII.  LABOR  AND  CAPITAL. 

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LABOR  AND  CAPITAL. 

§  1.    What  is  labor? 

It  is  any  man's  or  woman's  efforts  to  live  and  prosper,  whether  of  body  or  of  mind,  or  of 
both ;  whether  in  agriculture,  or  commerce,  or  manufactures,  or  mechanics,  or  in  either  of  the 
numerous  branches  of  these  great  and  comprehensive  pursuits ;  whether  in  the  useful  or  fine 
arts,  in  digging  ditches  or  digging  out  the  sciences ;  whether  in  a  professional  career,  or  in 
making  books  ;  in  teaching,  or  in  study ;  in  legislation,  or  in  government ;  in  making  pins,  or 
casting  cannon ;  in  the  use  of  hands  or  of  feet,  of  fingers  or  of  toes,  of  muscles  or  of  brains; 
in  search  of  knowledge,  or  in  its  application ;  in  inventions,  or  their  uses  ;  in  making  canals, 
or  building  ships ;  erecting  railroads,  or  constructing  locomotives  ;  in  burning  lime  or  brick,  in 
quarrying  or  in  masonry;  in  wielding  a  sledge-hammer,  or  making  watches;  in  grinding 
knives,  or  selling  brick-dust ;  in  fishing  for  oysters,  or  harpooning  whales  ;  in  any  one  of  the 
thousand  occupations,  of  the  city  or  the  country,  on  the  land  or  on  the  sea ;  and  so  on,  and  so 
on,  to  the  end  of  that  infinite  diversity  of  human  pursuits,  by  which  men  and  women  toil  for 
a,  livelihood,  and  to  get  on  in  the  world.  In  a  free  country  each  one  chooses  his  own  vocation, 
and  it  is  not  easy  to  say,  whether  mind  work  or  muscular  effort  is  hardest. 

§  2.   What  is  capital  1 

Money  is  usually  called  capital.  But  it  is  not  exclusively  so,  unless  it  is  intended  to  com 
prehend  everything  that  will  fetch  money ;  or  everything  that  is  worth  money.  In  this  sense 
labor  is  capital.  Labor,  certainly,  is  the  foundation  and  cause  of  wealth.  All  the  world  would 
be  poor,  and  come  to  nothing  without  it.  Whatever  any  man  has,  which  others  want,  and 
which,  being  wanted,  will  fetch  money,  whether  it  be  a  capacity  for  labor,  or  any  species  of 
property,  it  is  capital.  For  any  man,  therefore,  to  know  how  rich  he  is,  or  how  much  capital 
lie  has,  he  has  only  to  inquire  what  he  can  do  and  what  he  has  that  will  fetch  money. 

§  3.   The  capital  of  labor. 

He  who  is  able  to  work,  and  who  can  find  employment  with  fair  pay,  is  rich  to  begin  with, 
and  may  become  rich  in  the  usual  sense  of  the  term.  A  power  to  labor,  where  labor  is  in  de 
mand,  is  the  best,  most  independent,  and  most  productive  of  all  capital.  Money  at  interest, 
or  in  stocks,  usually  produces,  in  this  country,  an  income  averaging  perhaps  six  per  cent. 
Some  get  more,  some  less,  and  some  none  at  all.  They  are  liable  to  go  backward,  and  lose 
principal  itself.  But  labor,  with  economy,  can  hardly  ever  be  worth  less  than  fifty  per  cent. 
That  is,  a  laborer  can  live  satisfactorily,  and  lay  up,  as  vested  capital,  half  of  his  wages.  In 
some  kinds  of  employment,  he  can  lay  up  three-fourths,  it  may  be  more  than  that.  Economy 
and  skill  in  the  management  of  his  earnings,  may  also  be  made  productive  of  wealth,  in  addi 
tion  to  the  profits  of  his  labor.  Some  laborers,  by  a  careful  use  of  past  earnings,  soon  get  to 
realize  a  hundred  per  cent,  on  their  capital,  including  labor ;  and  then  they  are  growing  rich, 
wealthy.  Industrious  labor  of  any  kind,  in  a  country  like  ours,  with  economy,  and  being  ap 
plied  where  labor  is  in  demand  for  wages,  is  a  sure  foundation  of  wealth.  Man  does  not  have 
to  labor  to  acquire  the  power.  It  is  a  capital  with  which  he  is  endowed  by  creation,  an  inde 
pendent  faculty,  and  more  productive  than  any  other. 

§  4.  Skill  in  labor,  and  in  the  management  of  its  avails,  is  capital. 
Man  has  not  only  bones,  sinews,  muscles,  and  other  powers  of  bodily  labor,  but  he  has  mind 
to  direct  it,  to  improve  in  it,  to  make  it  more  available,  to  put  all  its  proceeds  to  a  profitable 
use,  and  to  improve  even  its  uses.  Labor  turns  bodily  power  to  account,  and  skill  multiplies 
the  profits  of  labor,  so  that  when  a  man  gets  a-going  in  the  world,  he  goes  fast.  Riches  flow 
in,  and  wealth  accumulates.  A  man's  power  of  labor  is  limited ;  but  his  skill  is  unlimited. 
Skill  is  often  a  thousand  times  more  productive  than  what  is  commonly  called  labor.  But,  it 
is  to  be  remembered,  that,  skill  itself  is  the  fruit  of  the  labor  of  mind,  or  is  the  employment  of 
mind,  as  muscular  effort  is  labor  of  the  body.  But  skill  is  capital.  It  is  equally  applicable  to 
agriculture,  as  to  manufactures ;  to  the  mechanic,  or  the  useful,  or  fine  arts.  It  is  applicable 
to  trade  and  commerce,  to  every  pursuit  and  occupation  of  life. 

§  5.  Enterprise  is  capital. 

It  might  seem  quite  unnecessary  to  say,  in  view  of  what  enterprise  has  accomplished  in  and 
for  this  country,  from  the  beginning  of  our  history,  that  enterprise  is  capital.  With  slender 
means,  it  has  evoked  unbounded  wealth  from  the  long  repose  of  a  continent,  and  erected  there 
upon  a  vast  national  estate.  No  other  species  of  capital  has  contributed  so  largely  to  this 
stupendous  result.  As  the  collective  power  of  national  enterprise  is  composed  of  individual 
enterprise,  we  find  accordingly  the  same  character  in  isolated  conditions,  chequering  the  whole 
surface  t*f  society  with  great  achievements  effected  by  single  persons.  There  was  capital 
«ough  in  the  soul  of  Washington,  to  humble  the  greatest  nation,  and  to  make  another,  witfc 

98 


3 

that  would  hare  been  laughed  to  scorn  as  a  subject  of  prophecy.  In  all  our  history, 
and  in  the  various  walks  of  life,  are  to  be  found  like  miracles  of  enterprise,  originating  in  the 
profound  and  inexhaustible  wealth,  and  carried  forward  to  consummation,  by  the  invisible 
power  of  man's  moral  attributes. 

§  6.  Moneyed  capital. 

Money  is  most  coveted,  because  it  is  most  convenient ;  and  its  convenience  arises  from  th« 
fact,  that  it  will  procure,  in  exchange,  everything  which  a  man  wants,  or  desires.  But,  in 
itself,  it  is  dead  capital,  and  the  least  worthy  of  respect  or  affection,  as  compared  with  labor, 
and  skill  in  the  application  of  labor  and  its  avails.  When  money  is  put  to  use,  it  is  said  to  be 
active ;  but  it  has  no  natural,  inherent  productive  power.  Hoarded  money,  while  in  that 
state,  is  no  better  than  rusty  old  iron  in  a  farmer's  garret.  And  when  put  to  use,  the  income 
is  not  the  natural  product  of  a  natural  agent,  or  natural  effect  of  a  natural  cause,  but  a  mere 
commercial  result,  which  is  limited  and  small  as  compared  with  the  products  and  avails  of 
labor,  and  that  little  is  contingent  on  good  management  and  good  security.  The  principal 
itself  is  subject  to  the  same  contingency. 

Nevertheless,  moneyed  capital  may  be  an  important  instrument  in  the  hands  of  the  owner, 
and  is  usually  an  effective  power,  within  certain  limits.  It  will  always  supply  wants,  and 
gratify  desires,  so  long  as  it  lasts.  But  as  productive  capital,  put  to  use  in  the  hands  of  second 
and  third  persons,  for  the  increase  of  itself,  it  bears  no  proportion  to  the  productive  power  of 
human  labor  and  skill.  The  fact,  that  they  who  employ  money,  can  afford  to  pay  interest  for 
it,  and  often  double,  sometimes  quadruple  the  principal  sum  annually,  by  the  use  of  it,  is  proof 
of  this  point. 

§  7.    Vested  capital. 

By  vested  capital  is  commonly  understood  money  put  to  use  for  what  is  called  interest  or 
income.  The  most  common  forms  of  vested  capital,  are  bonds,  mortgages,  negotiable  notes, 
silent  partnerships  in  business  firms,  stocks  in  banks,  insurances  offices,  turnpike  and  railroads, 
canals,  fishing  companies,  great  commercial  enterprises,  steamboats  and  steamships,  navigation 
companies,  manufactories,  state  and  government  securities,  and  any  undertaking  that  is  beyond 
the  ordinary  means  of  individuals,  and  which  requires  the  combined  and  aggregate  capital  of 
numerous  persons  having  money  to  put  to  use.  The  capital  of  corporate  companies  or  bodies, 
formed  for  these  objects,  is  usually  divided  into  small  shares,  which,  being  made  negotiable, 
that  anybody  can  buy  or  sell,  are  thence,  called  stocks. 

§  8.  Corporations. 

The  object  of  corporations  is  to  combine  the  surplus  or  spare  capital  of  numerous  individ 
uals,  for  enterprises  which  are  usually  beyond  the  reach  of  single  persons.  Properly  organized 
by  the  statute  of  incorporation,  by  a  division  of  the  capital  into  small  shares,  and  securing  to 
men  of  small  means  equal  chances,  they  are  well  adapted  to  a  democratic  state  of  society,  by 
bringing  down  the  powers  of  government,  distributing  them  among  the  people,  and  vesting 
them  in  the  hands  of  all  persons  who  can  raise  twenty,  or  fifty,  or  a  hundred  dollars,  according 
to  the  price  of  shares.  Few  and  large  corporations,  monopolizing  power  in  their  own  specific 
spheres,  are  objects  of  popular  jealousy,  and  justly  so.  But  the  multiplication  of  them,  with 
moderate  capital  and  powers,  divided  into  small  shares,  spreads  them  out  over  the  surface  of 
society,  and  whatever  powers  they  have,  be  it  more  or  less,  is  so  much  resigned  by  the  govern 
ment,  and  vested  immediately  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  who  are  able  and  disposed  to  be 
owners  of  stock.  It  is  a  wider  and  more  democratic  distribution  of  power.  The  responsibility 
of  the  managers,  is  to  the  stockholders  for  the  use  of  the  capital,  and  to  the  government,  and 
through  the  government,  to  the  great  body  of  the  people,  for  the  use  of  their  powers.  That  is 
the  best,  most  democratic,  and  most  beneficent  system  of  corporations,  which  enables  and 
encourages  laborers  and  men  of  small  means,  widows  and  orphans,  and  the  more  dependent 
and  helpless  portions  of  the  community,  to  become  interested  in  them,  by  the  investment  and 
application  of  their  funds,  which  they  themselves  could  not  employ  to  advantage.  For  exam 
ple  : — Two  men,  in  partnership,  were  joint-owners  of  mills  of  great  value  in  the  state  of 
Maine,  and  one  of  them  died,  leaving  a  widow  and  several  children.  The  widow  and  chil 
dren,  of  course,  could  not  manage  such  a  business ;  but  by  an  act  of  incorporation  from  the 
state,  the  widow  and  the  guardians  of  her  children  became  corporators  and  managers,  and  the 
joint-interest  went  on  as  before.  It  will  be  seen,  that  cases  are  constantly  occurring  in  so 
ciety,  which  require  the  aid  of  such  privileges.  All  helpless  persons,  who  have  capital  enough 
to  support  them,  but  who  are  unable  to  manage  it,  naturally  resort  to  such  helps  provided  by 
the  state,  in  parental  care,  and  by  considerations  of  humanity,  as  well  as  for  the  general 
welfare. 

§  9.  Laborers  may  be  stockholders  and  corporators  in  corporate  companies. 
The  town  of  Lowell,  in  Massachusetts,  which  has  risen  from  nothing  in  twenty  years,  to  ft 
population  of  more  than  twenty  thousand,  has  between  eleven  and  twelve  millions  of  dollars 

99 


vested  in  her  manufactories,  employs  upwards  of  nine  thousand  laborers,  male  and  female, 
pays  for  their  work  annually  $1,800,000,  about  fifty  per  cent,  of  which,  on  the  average,  or 
$900,000,  they  can  save,  or  lay  by,  after  paying  their  board  and  necessary  expenses.  Their 
savings  support  a  Savings  bank  in  the  place,  where  deposites  are  constantly  being  made, 
Some  of  them,  after  having  laid  up  a  satisfactory  sum,  go  home  with  means  to  settle  down  for 
life,  while  others  vest  their  savings  in  the  manufactories,  and  become  stockholders  and  cor 
porators — managers  of  their  own  stock,  and  presiding  over  themselves  as  laborers,  gradually 
accumulating  their  interest  in  these  companies.  In  one  manufactory  alone,  $100,000  of 
stock  is  owned  by  those  who  work  in  the  factories  for  wages ;  in  another  $60,000 ;  and  so 
on.  Factory  girls,  and  women  who  live  by  their  needles,  are  often  stockholders  in  these  and 
other  institutions.  It  will  be  observed,  that  in  all  these  cases,  the  capital  of  labor  creates  the 
moneyed  capital  thus  or  otherwise  vested,  and  that  in  the  case  of  a  laborer  at  Lowell,  who 
receives  in  wages  $200  a  year — that  is  the  average — and  lays  up  one  hundred  dollars,  the 
profits  of  labor  are  ten  to  one  of  the  income  of  moneyed  capital  at  five  per  cent.  In  other 
words,  the  profits  of  labor  in  these  cases,  are  fifty  per  cent.,  on  the  cost  or  principal,  that 
being  $200. 

§.  10.    The  effect  of  corporations  on  the  general  welfare. 

1.  Manufactories.     In  our  tract  on  the  Tariff,  No.  III.,  we  took  occasion  to  adduce  the 
case  of  the  Glenham  woollen  factory  of  Fishkill,  N.  Y.,  with  a  capital  of  $140,000,  which,  as 
proved,  actually  employs  other  capital  of  the  country,  chiefly  agricultural,  but  yet  embracing  a 
variety  of  other  kinds,  in  all  to  the  amount  of  $1,432,000.     From  this  aggregate  of  other 
capital,  thus  employed,  it  will  easily  be  seen,  what  a  great  variety  of  other  occupations  find  a 
profitable  employment  by  this  investment  of  $140,000.     Among  the  items  specified,  vre  notic* 
66,000  sheep,  22,000  acres  of  pasture  land  to  feed  them,  2,600  acres  of  farm  land  to  supply 
the  wants  of  the  families  belonging  to  the  factory,  and  $8,000  annually  used  up  in  the  small 
articles  of  teazles,  firewood,  coal,  provender,  &c.     All  the  laborers  and  their  families  belonging 
to  this  factory,  are,  of  course,  supported  by  it.     All  the  farmers  connected  with  this  establish 
ment,  and  the  owners  of  the  66,000  sheep,  are  also  supported'by  it,  to  the  extent  of  their  in 
vestments  thus  employed.    It  will  be  seen  that  the  individuals  and  families  connected  with  thp 
capital  of  $1,432,000  employed  by  this  factory,  are  neither  few  in  numbers,  nor  small  in  the 
aggregate  of  their  various  interests.     All  of  them  derive  their  support  from  this  source,  and  it 
is  satisfactory,  else  they  would  look  to  another  quarter. 

Let  us  carry  out  the  rule  furnished  by  these  facts,'  to  another  and  more  comprehensive  stage. 
The  entire  capital  vested  in  all  the  manufactories  of  the  United  States  at  this  time,  is  estimat 
ed  at  $300,000,000,  (three,  kutulrtd  millions  of  dollars).  If  we  suppose  that  this  aggregate,  thus 
vested,  employs  an  amount  of  other  capital  of  the  country,  corresponding  with  the  case  of  the 
factory  at  Fishkill,  as  above  stated,  then  the  whole  amount  of  the  other  capital  employed,  ami 
profitably  employed,  by  the  manufactories  of  the  Union,  would  be  $3,068,571,428,  or  a  little 
over  three,  thousand  millions  of  dollars !  This  is  doubtless  an  unexpected,  it  is  even  an  as 
tonishing  result.  It  may  be,  that  other  manufactories,  different  in  kind,  do  not  employ  an 
equal  proportion  of  other  capital ;  there  are  doubtless  some  which  do  not ;  but  some,  for  aught 
we  know,  may  employ  a  greater  proportion,  enough  even  to  swell  the  aggregate.  The  vast- 
ness  of  the  amount,  at  the  lowest  possible  estimate,  is  sufficient  to  show  the  importance  of 
these  corporations  to  the  various  occupations  and  interests  of  the  country.  There  is  no  occu 
pation,  however  humble,  no  man,  however  poor,  that  is  not  materially  affected  and  essential 
ly  benefited  by  them.  The  wool  growing  interests  of  the  country,  which  are  chiefly  connected 
with  our  manufactories,  and  sustained  by  them,  are  estimated  at  two  hundred  millions  of  dol 
lars,  and  the  farmers  of  the  country  receive  annually  from  the  manufactories,  for  all  their  va 
rious  supplies,  an  aggregate  of  sixty  six  millions  of  dollars,  which  is  nearly  nine  times  as  much 
as  the  avails  of  all  our  exports  of  flour,  beef,  and  pork,  to  all  parts  of  the  world.  Massachu 
setts,  a  great  manufacturing  state,  alone  consumes  annually  more  than  forty  millions  of  dol 
lars  of  the  products  of  other  states,  which  is  nearly  a  moiety  of  all  our  exports  to  foreign 
countries. 

2.  Collateral  evidence.     The  assessed  value  of  property  of  all  kinds  in  the  state  of  Massa 
chusetts,  as  reported  by  her  legislature  in  1841,  is  three  hundred  millions  of  dollars.     As  it  is 
known  that  official  assessments  of  this  kind  are  very  much  less  than  common  estimates,  often 
fifty  per  cent.,  on  an  average,  in  Massachusetts  probably  twenty  five,  per  cent.,  it  may,  perhaps, 

be  fairly  assumed  that  the  aggregate  value  of  the  property  of  that  commonwealth,  is  not  less 
than/oitr  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  about  one  fourth  of  which,  or  one  hundred  millions,  lies 
in  Boston  and  its  immediate  vicinity.  The  capital  vested  in  the  manufactories  of  that  state, 
is  about  fifty  millions  of  dollars.  We  have  endeavored  from  the  best  sources  of  information  to 
ascertain,  as  near  as  possible,  the  amount  of  value  imparted  to  the  wealth  of  Massachusetts 
by  the  manufactories,  and  the  result  is,  that  it  can  hardly  be  less  than  one  hundred  millions  of 
dollars.  It  has  been  stated  as  high  as  one  hundred  and.  fifty  miUioi>s.  That  the  first  of  these 
statements  is  not  too  high,  may  be  presumed  from  the  fact,  that  the  assessed  value  of  all  the  , 

100  ( 


property  of  the  state  of  Maine,  with  a  little  less  than  two  thirds  of  the  population  of  Massa 
chusetts,  but  three  times  as  much  territory,  is  only  seventy  millions  of  dollars,  resulting  ap 
parently  from  the  fact  that  she  has  few  manufactories. 

Sir  Robert  Peel,  in  his  speech  at  the  agricultural  meeting  at  Tamworth,  England,  in  1843, 
said : — 

"  Therefore,  gentlemen,  in  this  favored  locality,  we  have  no  excuse  for  being  behind-hand  in  the  rnoe 
of  agricultural  prosperity.  Another  advantage  we  possess  is,  that  we  live  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  great 
manufacturing  distiict,  and  you  all  know  of  what  importance  Birmingham  and  the  great  iron  district  in  its 
neighborhood  is — you  know  also  what  influence  it  has  in  the  demand  for  your  agricultural  produce  and 
you  have  hud  ample  experience  tftat  with  the  decay  or  increase  of  the  prosperity  of  that  district  there  are 
corresponding  sympathies  on  the  part  of  the  agriculturists.  Thus  you  have  not  only  a  country  formed 
by  nature,  but  possessing  the  advantage  of  a  great  manufacturing  district  in  its  imn.ediate  neighborhood, 
and  creating  a  market  for  its  produce." 

Every  one  will  see,  that  this  species  of  evidence  is  to  the  same  effect,  and  of  the  same  value, 
hi  all  parts  of  the  world. 

3.  Canals,  railroads,  $c.     The  construction  of  works  of  these  kinds,  disburses  over  the 
'country  tfie  entire  amount  of  their  cost,  be  it  more  or  less,  giving  employment  to  laborers, 

manufacturers,  mechanics,  artisans,  and  various  classes,  who  do  the  work,  supply  materials, 
and  aid  in  accomplishing  the  end.  We  have  not  the  means  for  an  exact  statement  of  the  cost 
of  these  works,  already  completed  or  begun  in  the  country ;  but  the  aggregate  must  be  very 
large,  not  less,  probably,  than  some  hundred  millions.  Most  of  this  has  been  realized  by  la 
borers  of  various  classes  employed  to  do  the  work  and  supply  materials.  And  it  is  to  be 
understood,  that  if  all  these  works  were  good  for  nothing  when  done,  the  money  which  they  cost 
has  all  passed  into  the  hands  of  those  who  made  them.  But  in  most  cases  they  answer  their 
design,  and  contribute  permanently  to  the  employment  and  profits  cf  labor,  and  to  the  activity, 
facility,  and  profits  of  the  business  of  the  country,  on  an  immense  scale.  They  also  enhance 
the  value  of  the  property  of  the  country  to  a  great  extent.  A  gentleman  owning  a  very  large 
estate  in  the  commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  though  not  bordering  on  her  public  works,  told 
us  he  would  be  glad  to  be  taxed  at  any  moment  for  his  fair  proportion  of  the  whole  amount  of 
the  state  debt,  and  that  such  a  tax  would  be  but  a  fraction  of  the  increase  of  the  value  of  his 
property  on  account  of  these  works.  If  this  be  true,  as  doubtless  it  is,  the  state,  though  en 
cumbered  with  a  public  debt,  by  the  erection  of  these  works,  is  yet  richer  on  account  of  them. 
The  only  embarrassment  is,  how  to  liquidate  the  debt  most  satisfactorily  to  the  people  of  the 
commonwealth.  All  the  erections  of  this  kind,  whether  made  by  states  or  by  corporate  com 
panies,  are  greatly  beneficial  to  the  wide  community,  in  the  disbursement  and  realization  of 
their  costs,  in  the  permanent  use  to  which  they  are  applied,  in  the  increase  of  the  general 
value  of  property,  in  the  additional  and  profitable  employment  which  they  give  to  labor,  and  in 
promoting  the  facilities  and  activity  of  business.  All  classes,  more  especially  the  poorer  class 
es,  feel  and  reap  the  benefit.  Individual  capital  could  not  accomplish  these  great  works.  It 
is  only  by  states,  or  by  the  combined  capital  of  numerous  individuals,  in  the  form  of  corpora 
tions,  that  such  enterprises  can  be  achieved. 

These  remarks  are  equally  applicable  to  all  other  enterprises  on  a  large  scale,  which  can 
only  be  accomplished  by  associated  capital.  They  are  beneficial  to  the  whole  country,  and  to 
all  classes,  in  the  same  way,  and  by  the  operation  of  the  same  causes. 

4.  Banks.     For  want  of  space,  we  are  forced  to  refer  to  our  Tract  on  the  Currencjr,  No.  II., 
or  to  presuppose  an  acquaintance  with  it,  for  a  proper  appreciation  of  the  few  remarks  made 
here.     It  is  a  settled  fact,  that  the  business  of  this  country  can  not  be  carried  on  without  a 
paper  medium,  and  the  only  question  is,  whether  it  shall  be  supplied  by  private  and  irrespon 
sible  persons,  shop-keepers,  and  the  like ;  or  by  corporations  created  and  regulated  by  the 
government,  and  responsible  to  it  ?    Experience  has  decided,  that  the  evils  of  the  former  plan 
can  not  be  endured,  and  bank  corporations  are  the  result  of  the  necessity  of  the  public.    Their 
powers  are  specified,  their  modes  of  business  regulated  by  law,  and  they  are  held  account 
able  to  the  authorities  which  gave  them  being.     They  have  a  reasonable  amount  of  the  con 
fidence  of  the  public,  and  the  reasons  why  that  has  been  in  some  degree  shaken,  are  exhibited 
in  our  Tract  on  the  Currency,  which  are,  briefly,  the  effects  of  the  mal-treatment  of  govern 
ment,  in  a  war  against  its  own  offspring.     Can  a  child  do  well,  with  a  father  striking  heavy 
blows  on  its  head  ? 

A  good  system  of  banking  supplies  a  sound,  convenient,  and  indispensable  circulating  me 
dium  for  the  demands  of  business.  It  is  physically  impossible,  that  the  vast  trade  of  this  vast 
country,  should  be  carried  on  with  an  exclusive  metallic  currency.  The  people  will  use  the 
paper  of  private  and  irresponsible  persons,  with  all  its  evils,  if  they  can  not  have  that  of  re 
sponsible  and  law-governed  institutions.  Besides  the  general  soundness  of  a  bank-paper  me 
dium,  they  are  usually  able,  by  the  conditions  on  which  they  are  chartered,  to  supply  an 
adequate  currency.  But  not  the  least  of  the  benefits  of  a  good  banking  system,  is  its  effect  in 
suppressing  exorbitant  usury.  By  far  the  greater  portion  of  the  sacrifices  of  property  in  this 
country,  as  the  consequence  of  the  revulsion  of  general  credit  through  which  we  have  recently 
passed,  has  been  occasioned  by  exorbitant  interest  exacted  by  private  money-holders,  when  the 

101 


banks  could  not  loan,  and  all  commercial  agents  were  in  trouble.  Much  of  the  fanning  to* 
terest  and  other  property  of  the  country,  has  changed  owners  in  this  way,  by  the  foreclosing 
of  mortgages,  and  the  original  proprietors,  who  were  well  off  before,  have  been  ruined  by  mer 
ciless  usurers.  But  in  the  operation  of  a  sound  banking  system,  exorbitant  usury  is  always 
kept  down,  because  it  is  forced  to  moderation,  to  a  specified  limit,  by  law.  (See  Tract  on  the 
Currency.) 

5.  Insurance  companies,  etc.     The  benefits  of  these  and  similar  institutions,  are  too  well 
known  to  require  defence.     They  absorb  a  large  amount  of  capital,  which  is  thus  put  to  prof 
itable  use,  at  the  same  time  that  it  secures  the  private  property  of  individuals  on  an  immense 
scale,  at  a  premium  which  all  can  afford,  if  they  can  not  afford  to  lose  it.     A  ship  insured,  is 
lost,  but  the  owners  and  shippers  do  not  suffer ;  a  house  insured,  is  burnt,  but  the  owner  re 
ceives  cash  for  the  value;  a  valuable  life  insured,  is  lost,  but  the  surviving  relatives  get  an 
equivalent  for  the  services  of  which  they  are  deprived ;  and  in  this  way  the  most  afflicting 
strokes  of  Providence  are  greatly  relieved  of  their  severity.     Men  bear  one  another's  burdens 
from  motives  of  interest,  where  charity  would,  be  cold  and  unproductive.     It  is  a  beneficent 
result  of  civilization. 

6.  Corporations  secure,  activity  to  moneyed  capital.     It  is  best  for  all,  that  money  should  be 
in  constant  use.     While  lying  still,  it  is  dead  to  all  the  world,  and  good  for  nothing.     But  they 
who  have  money,  will  not  trust  it  to  second  and  third  persons,  without  security.     The  rights 
and  powers  of  corporate  bodies,  are  indispensable  to  evoke  hoarded  wealth  from  its  hiding- 
places,  and  bring  it  into  use  for  the  benefit  of  society. 

7.  Money  vested  in  corporate  institution*,  is  put  under  the  control  of  general  society,  through 
Hie  government.    This  is  a  prime  consideration,  especially  for  those  who  are  jealous  of  moneyed 
power.      The  government  is  virtually  trustee  of  all  funds  vested  in  corporate  institutions, 
prescribes  the  objects  to  which  they  shall  be  applied,  and  the  manner  of  using  them,  employs 
the  corporations  as  its  agents,  and  holds  them  accountable.    The  government  is  supposed  to  be 
partial  to  the  public,  and  will  always  endeavor  to  serve  and  promote  the  interests  of  the  pub 
lic.     To  have  the  moneyed  power  of  the  country  under  such  control,  can  not  but  be  regarded 
as  better  than  to  have  it  in  the  hands  of  private  and  exorbitant  usurers,  or  shavers. 

8.  There  are  many  important  objects  indispensable  to  the  interests  of  the  country,  which  can  not 
be  accomplished,  except  by  the  power  of  associated  capital.     The  objects  of  the  various  institu 
tions  we  have  had  under  review,  will  sufficiently  show  this.     If  they  must  be  done,  they  can 
only  be  done  in  this  way.     And  what  and  where  would  the  country  have  been  without  them  ? 
Half-way  back  to  barbarism. 

§  11.   The  controlling  power  of  labor,  industry,  and  enterprise,  over  tnoneycd  capital. 

We  have  before  recognised  the  substantial  capital  and  productive  power  of  these  capacities 
of  man.  We  have  seen  that  they  are  many  times  more  productive  than  moneyed  capital.  It 
remains  to  show,  that,  in  this  country,  they  command  and  control  the  latter.  Money  and 
property,  we  know,  among  us,  are  constantly  changing  hands.  A  man  has  only  to  work  on, 
and  wait  patiently,  and  with  industry  and  enterprise,  he  is  sure  to  get  both.  The  wheel  of 
American  fortune  is  perpetually  and  steadily  turning,  and  those  at  bottom  to-day,  will  be 
moving  up  to-morrow,  and  will  ere  long  be  at  the  top.  The  rich  man  of  this  year,  may  be 
poor  the  next,  and  the  wealthy  family  of  this  generation,  is  likely  to  dissipate  its  fortune  in 
the  next.  Scarcely  ever  does  it  remain  in  the  same  line  to  the  third  generation.  And  where 
is  it,  when  no  longer  found  with  the  same  owners  ?  It  is  in  a  thousand  or  ten  thousand  hands. 
Where  the  laws  of  primogeniture  and  entail  are  abolished,  as  in  this  country,  and  where  ev 
erything  is  put  under  the  control  of  labor,  industry,  and  enterprise,  there  is  a  substantial 
equality.  All  property,  among  us,  tends  to  the  hands  of  those  who  work  and  wait  for  it.  They 
are  as  sure  to  get  it,  as  the  sun  is  to  rise  and  set. 

Where  now  is  the  vast  estate  of  Stephen  Girard,  of  Philadelphia  ?  The  two  millions  left  in 
charge  of  that  city,  is  chiefly  in  the  hands  of  the  lime-burners,  brick-makers,  quarry-men, 
stone-cutters,  masons,  carpenters,  carters,  architects,  artisans,  manufacturers,  mechanics,  lum 
ber  merchants,  trades  of  many  kinds,  and  agents  of  great  variety,  whose  labors,  services,  and 
materials  were  put  in  requisition  for  the  erection  of  Girard  College  without  the  city,  and  Gi 
rard  Square  within  it.  And  the  immense  estate  of  John  Jacob  Astor,  of  New  York,  where 
will  that  be  in  the  next  generation  ?  A  considerable  fraction  of  it  has  already  gone  into  th« 
Astor  House  and  other  edifices  in  that  city ;  that  is,  into  the  hands  of  those  who  built  them, 
and  furnished  the  materials.  Every  expensive  house  and  establishment  that  a  rich  man  set* 
op,  scatters  the  entire  cost  over  the  wide  community,  putting  that  amount  of  money  and  prop 
erty  into  other  and  many  hands.  Money  never  stays,  except  with  the  miser,  and  all  the  wealth 
of  the  wealthiest,  for  the  time  being,  is  for  the  most  part  in  use  by  somebody,  benefitting  the 
poor,  and  helping  those  who  are  not  so  well  off,  to  rise  in  the  world.  It  is  impossible  to  keep 
money  and  property  out  of  the  hands  of  those  who  work  for  it,  who  are  industrious  and  enter 
prising.  They  earn  it,  and  they  get  it.  And  the  productive  and  absorbing  power  of  frugal 
ft«d  industrious  labor  is  go  much  greater  than  that  of  moneyed  capital,  that  the  latter  stand*  m 

102 


ehance  in  the  competition.  It  must  yield,  and  give  up,  and  it  always  does.  The  relative  posi 
tion  of  the  capital  of  labor  and  moneyed  capital,  is,  not  that  the  latter  commands  the  former, 
but  that  the  former  commands  the  latter.  Moneyed  capital  employs  labor,  because  its  owner 
has  need  of  the  service ;  and  the  second  step  of  the  relation  is,  that  the  parties  have  changed 
places.  Labor,  industry,  and  enterprise,  in  this  country,  are  all  absorbing.  They  lay  their 
hands  upon  everything.  Their  compensation  is  a  fair  one,  as  between  the  parties.  The  in 
dustrious  and  frngal  toil  of  the  last  generation,  possesses  most  of  the  wealth  of  this.  So  will 
it  be  with  this  generation,  and  so  with  the  next.  It  is  the  natural  order,  and  necessary  result 
of  American  society.  Labor  is  the  master  here ;  it  is  the  great  capitalist ;  the  embryo  mil 
lionaire;  and  he  who  can  stand  up,  in  the  bloom  and  vigor  of  ripening  manhood,  pure  in  heart, 
and  determined  to  prosper,  though  he  has  not  a  penny  in  the  world,  may  look  abroad,  and  be 
hold  a  large  estate  within  his  reach.  Within  his  own  skin,  and  deep  down  in  his  own  soul, 
lies  the  capital,  the  productive  power,  with  which  he  is  to  trade.  All  wealth  lies  in  abey 
ance  to  these  physical  and  moral  energies,  and  comes  into  hand  at  their  summons. 

§  12.  The  lazy  character  of  moneyed  capital. 

We  speak  of  the  general  character  of  its  owners,  and  with  them,  it  is  not  only  lazy,  but 
often  improvident.  Its  proposal  and  its  terms  are,  use  me  and  give  me  my  dividend.  When 
men  get  beyond  the  necessity  of  labor,  they  never  like  to  return  to  it.  They  seek  repose,  en 
joyment,  and  exemption  from  the  rude  occupations  of  life.  It  is  seldom,  if  ever,  that  they 
realize  the  satisfaction  they  hoped  for.  But  they  have  become  lazy,  and  by  their  lazy  position 
they  fall  into  the  power  of  the  active  mind  of  the  country.  They  who  work  are  going  ahead, 
while  these  fall  back  on  their  resources,  can  command  nothing  but  their  dividends,  and  are  fit 
only  to  make  their  wills  in  favor  of  heirs,  who  anticipating  the  future,  are  waiting  only  for 
the  good  luck  that  death  may  bring  them,  to  dissipate,  it  may  be,  the  estate  that  falls  into 
their  possession.  At  best,  the  investments  of  moneyed  capitalists,  are  only  valuable  as  they 
are  in  demand  for  use  by  the  active,  laborious,  and  industrious  portion  of  the  community,  who, 
of  the  two  parties,  always  derive  the  greatest  benefit  from  them,  and  in  the  end  are  likely  to 
have  the  whole.  Labor  is  all  powerful,  and  destined  to  supplant  opulent  indolence,  by  gaining 
possession  of  the  means  of  its  luxurious  ease.  Guard  their  wealth  however  they  may,  "  rich 
es  take  to  themselves  wings  and  fly  away."  There  is  no  law  of  inheritance  in  American  so 
ciety,  that  can  secure  wealth  in  the  same  family  line,  while  it  is  always  open  to  the  acquisition 
of  industrious  labor.  The  gifts  of  fortune  are  always  tendered  to  those  who  toil  for  them,  and 
snatched  from  those  who  riot  in  affluence.  Already  we  behold  no  inconsiderable  fraction  of 
the  large  investments  of  the  Lowell  manufactories  in  the  hands  of  those  who  began  there 
by  spinning  and  weaving,  and  who  still  spin  and  weave.  And  who  that  has  observed  the  mu 
tations  of  society  for  half  a  generation,  or  even  a  less  time  than  that,  does  not  see  the  same 
operation  going  on  everywhere  ? 

§  13.   The  mutual  dependence  between  laborers  and  moneyed  capitalists. 

The  rich  man  can  not  eat  his  money ;  nor  clothe  himself  with  bank  notes,  or  gold  leaf,  or 
silver  plate;  nor  shelter  himself  from  the  inclemencies  of  the  seasons  by  these  materials;  nor 
make  of  them  any  of  the  comforts  of  life.  If  he  chooses  to  live  at  ease,  for  all  necessaries, 
and  for  all  means  of  enjoyment,  he  is  entirely  dependent  on  those  who  produce  them.  For 
all  these  he  must  give  his  money  in  exchange,  which  enables  those  who  minister  to  his  con 
venience  and  comfort,  to  better  their  condition,  and  rise  in  the  world.  In  these  very  acts  of 
exchange,  they  are  gradually  exchanging  positions  in  society.  Nor  can  the  wealthy  get  a  re 
turn  for  their  investments,  or  an  income  from  their  estates,  if  there  be  nobody  to  use  the  former, 
or  work  the  latter.  Both  parties  are  served  by  their  relative  position  for  the  time  being, 
though  it  is  possible,  and  not  unlikely,  that  their  children  will  stand  in  directly  the  opposite 
position  of  their  parents,  in  relation  to  each  other. 

The  laborer  wants  the  reward  of  his  toil,  first  for  necessaries  not  in  his  line ;  next,  to  add  to 
his  comforts;  and  thirdly,  to  increase  his  stock  in  trade,  or  augment  his  estate.  But  how 
could  he  get  this  reward,  if  nobody  had  it  to  give  in  exchange  for  his  services  ?  On  the  other 
hand,  the  consideration  paid  would  be  of  no  value  or  use  to  its  owners,  except  as  it  is  in  de 
mand  by  those  who  carry  on  the  active  business  of  society,  and  minister  to  its  wants. 

§  14.   Which  of  these  parties  is  more  benefited  by  the  other? 

It  is  true,  that  the  moneyed  capitalist  wants  his  dividend ;  but  the  profits  of  labor,  united 
with  moneyed  capital,  well  applied,  are  many  times  greater  than  the  proceeds  of  money  as  an 
investment  in  the  usual  forms.  Labor  is  the  source  of  all  wealth,  and  with  money,  as  tool* 
in  hand,  multiplies  the  principal  in  manifold  quantities.  The  laborer,  working  on  his  own  es 
tate,  gathers  the  rich  harvest  into  his  own  barns,  and  gives  the  moneyed  capitalist  a  small 
fraction  for  the  use  of  his  sickle — for  moneyed  capital,  in  the  hands  of  labor,  is  only  an  instru 
ment.  Or  if  he  works  on  the  estate  of  the  moneyed  capitalist  for  wages,  as  at  Lowell,  h« 
won  gets  enough  to  retire  in  a  condition  to  satisfy  his  ambition,  or  becomes  part  owner  of  tb« 

103 


estate,  gradually  gaining  on  the  original  proprietor,  with  the  prospect  of  supplanting  him. 
Such  is  the  advantage  of  labor,  united  with  skill  and  enterprise,  over  the  mere  instrument 
which  it  employs. 

§  15.  Labor  the  original  and  fundamental  power  of  society. 

The  recognition  of  the  true  position  of  labor,  in  relation  to  moneyed  capital,  is  of  no  incon 
siderable  political  importance.  We  mean  its  position  in  the  actual  state  and  practical  opera 
tion  of  American  society,  where  labor  is  free  and  sovereign,  and  not  as  it  stands  under  a  des 
potism,  or  in  the  monarchical  and  aristocratic  countries  of  Europe.  It  is  our  own  politics, 
and  our  own  political  powers,  with  which  we  have  to  do.  In  this  country,  labor,  since  our 
independence  was  acquired,  always  has  been  and  still  is,  not  only  an  original  and  fundamental, 
but  a  controlling  power  in  society,  and  in  the  state.  We  are  characteristically  and  distinctively 
a  nation  of  workers.  There  are  some  who  do  not  work ;  but  most  people  do.  Work  is  the 
fashion,  and  the  proudest  distinction  in  American  society.  Nobody  looks  with  respect  on  those 
who  live  in  idleness,  or  who  riot  in  luxurious  ease.  To  have  no  business,  is  a  kind  of  living 
death.  A  man  is  lost,  who  does  not  work. 

Moneyed  capital,  with  us,  is  a  mere  tool  in  the  hand  of  labor,  and  is  good  for  nothing,  ex 
cept  as  labor  will  bid  for  it.  The  millionaire  would  be  scarcely  better  off'  than  the  owner  of 
a  single  penny — not  even  so  well  off,  in  regard  to  his  physical  wants — if  he  could  not  call  the 
laborer  into  his  service ;  whereas  the  laborer  is  much  more  independent,  and  can  better 
do  without  the  rich  man,  than  the  rich  man  can  do  without  him.  This  independence,  this 
high  ground  of  labor,  is  perfectly  well  understood  in  this  country,  by  all  parties.  As  the 
great  majority  are  workers,  and  all  workers  sympathize  with  each  other,  the  ground  they  oc 
cupy  is  not  only  an  elevated  social  position,  but  a  controlling  political  power.  Just  show  the 
working  power  of  the  country  what  laws,  and  what  policy  of  government,  will  be  best  for  it, 
and  the  ballot  box  will  soon  demand  those  measures.  Who  will  say  that  this  demand  can  b« 
successfully  resisted  ?  WTho,  regarding  the  well  being  of  the  country,  would  desire  it  ? 

§  1G.   The  true  and  best  interest  of  moneyed  capital. 

It  is  to  give  labor  a  fair  reward,  and  to  make  it  profitable.  But  as  this  can  not  be  forced, 
as  between  the  parties,  trade  being  always  a  voluntary  transaction,  the  ability  to  do  it  can 
not  be  separated  from  the  action  of  government.  All  workers,  therefore,  as  well  as  money 
ed  capitalists — all  laborers  are  deeply  concerned  in  supporting  a  public  policy,  which  will 
put  labor  in  good  demand,  and  thus  enable  it  to  command  a  good  price.  This  depends  en 
tirely  upon  the  proceeds  of  moneyed  investments.  While  these  are  good,  labor  will  be  in 
demand,  and  the  price  of  it,  or  its  wages,  will  be  proportionately  high.  Moneyed  invest 
ments  are  sure  to  pay  well,  if  it  can  be  afforded;  and  the  more  they  can  afford,  the  better 
for  them.  But  generally,  this  ability  to  give  good  wages,  depends  very  much,  sometimes  en 
tirely,  on  the  policy  of  government,  in  the  privileges  it  confers  on  such  investments,  and  the 
chances  it  gives  to  them.  If  the  government  wars  against  them,  instead  of  extending  to 
them  its  fostering  care,  if  it  endeavors  to  cripple  and  break  them  down,  instead  of  protecting 
and  sustaining  them,  this  hostility  may  and  does  injure  the  moneyed  capitalist,  by  rendering 
his  investments  insecure  and  unproductive ;  but  it  injures  the  working  classes  of  the  com 
munity  much  more.  The  rich  can  hide  themselves  in  a  storm  of  government  hostility, 
though  they  may  be  losers ;  but  the  poor  perish,  or  are  in  great  distress,  for  want  of  em 
ployment.  Our  remark  above  on  the  comparative  independence  of  labor,  applies  to  an 
ordinary  state  of  things,  and  not  to  a  crisis  of  this  description. 

§  17.  A  false  notion. 

It  has  been  a  prevalent  and  fatal  doctrine  in  this  country,  with  a  certain  class  of  states 
men,  that  it  is  always  a  safe  policy  and  a  duty  in  the  government,  to  fight  against  moneyed 
capitalists,  in  whatever  place  or  shape  they  lift  up  their  heads,  whether  in  banks,  or  in 
manufactories,  or  in  any  and  all  other  forms  and  enterprises  requiring  associated  capital. 
In  this,  it  is  not  considered,  that  the  employment  and  thriving  of  the  people  depend  on  the 
profitable  investment  of  the  moneyed  capital  of  the  country;  nor  that  the  wages  and  profits 
of  labor,  and  the  price  of  its  products,  depend  on  the  profits  accruing  from  the  use  of  the 
moneyed  capital  which  labor  employs.  Moneyed  capital  is  regarded  by  this  policy  as  a  mas 
ter,  not  as  a  servant  and  instrument;  as  a  hostile  power,  not  as  a  friendly  auxiliary;  as 
having  in  itself  a  faculty  of  independence,  not  as  deriving  all  its  value  from  labor ;  and  as 
aiming  to  acquire  a  supremacy  over  society.  But  a  little  reflection,  in  view  of  what  has 
been  said,  one  would  think,  ought  to  show,  that  the  condition  of  moneyed  capital,  in  this 
country,  is  passive  in  the  hand  of  labor,  and  not  active  to  rule  over  it,  and  that  it  is  not 
possible  to  change  this  relation  of  dependence  in  the  former  on  the  latter.  Moneyed  capital, 
in  itself,  is  an  inert  power,  and  derives  all  its  vitality  from  the  touch  of  labor.  For  govern- 
ment,  therefore,  to  open  the  way,  by  its  policy,  for  the  profitable  use  of  money,  is  the  same 
as  to  provide  for  the  success  and  fair  reward  of  industry  and  work ;  and  that  policy  which 


9 

destroys  the  profit  of  money,  destroys  the  profit  of  labor.     Let  government  strike  at  t&e 
rich,  and  the  blow  falls  on  the  heads  of  the  poor. 

§  18.   The  effect  of  allowing  foreign  labor  to  compete  ivith  home  labor,  on  the  same  level. 

Estimating  the  value  of  moneyed  capital  in  any  country  by  the  average  price,  or  interest,, 
paid  for  its  use,  American  moneyed  capital  would  fall  at  once  to  about  two  thirds  of  its 
present  value,  and  the  price  of  home  labor  would  sink  to  about  one  third — or  jointly  the  de 
pression  would  be  fifty  per  cent. — and  the  value  of  all  other  property  would  sink  in  like 
proportion.  For  it  is  manifest,  that,  with  no  tariff  to  protect  us,  the  price  of  American  la 
bor  must  fall  to  the  average  price  of  European  labor.  They  who  work  for  the  same  mar 
ket,  must  work  for  the  same  wages.  Besides  this,  we  should,  to  a  very  great  extent,  be 
driven  from  our  own  market  as  producers,  and  forced,  commercially,  into  the  condition  of  a 
dependent  and  tributary  colony.  [See  our  Tract  on  the  Tariff,  No.  III.,  for  a  farther  eluci 
dation  of  this  point.] 

§  19.  A  comparative  view  of  the  position  of  labor  in  America  and  Europe. 

We  have  told  in  the  outset  what  we  mean  by  labor.  IT  is  THEY  WHO  WORK — REAL 
WORKERS,  no  matter  in  what,  or  with  what,  or  for  what  aid,  if  it  be  lawful  and  honorable 
work,  to  supply  the  wants  of  civilized  man,  or  the  increasing  wants  of  advancing  civili 
zation.  The  more  wants,  the  more  work,  and  so  much  the  better  for  all,  where  each  chooses 
his  own  calling,  and  finds  employment. 

But  the  position  of  labor  in  this  country  is,  in  a  variety  of  important  particulars,  a  new 
one  in  human  society.  1.  It  is  free — with  the  exception  of  African  slave  labor.  This  spe« 
eies  of  freedom,  which  is  a  most  important  attainment  in  the  progress  of  society,  implies 
a  practicable  alternative  to  working  on  wages  at  the  price  fixed  by  the  employer.  In  Europe, 
for  the  most  part,  there  is  no  such  alternative,  and  the  laborer  is  compelled  to  work  at  a  price 
in  which  he  has  no  voice,  or  he  must  starve ;  and  for  the  reason  that  he  has  no  voice  in  fix 
ing  his  wages,  they  are  too  scanty  for  comfort,  much  more  for  bettering  his  condition,  and 
often  too  scanty  for  subsistence.  European  wages  are  next  to  a  state  of  starvation.  At  best, 
it  is  a  state  of  slavery,  without  hope.  But  in  this  country,  labor  occupies  a  high  social  and 
political  position.  It  is  never  compelled  to  work  for  wages  fixed  by  employers,  because  there 
is  always  open  to  it  the  alternative  of  working  on  its  own  hook.  American  labor,  therefore, 
does  not  accept  a  price  imposed,  but  commands  its  own  price.  At  least,  it  is  always  an  in 
dependent  party  in  the  compact.  It  is  made  freely,  and  can  be  as  freely  dissolved,  without 
incurring  the  doom  of  starvation  or  distressing  want.  2.  The  social  position  of  American 
labor  is  such,  that  none  but  workers  are  held  in  respect — and  work  is  held  in  the  highest 
respect.  No  power,  in  this  country,  can  enforce  respect  for  the  man  who  has  nothing  to 
do,  and  who  does  nothing.  Just  in  proportion  as  a  rich  man  retires  from  society,  to  wrap 
himself  up  in  selfishness,  does  he  lose  his  influence,  and  the  idle,  lazy  poor  man  gets  little 
pity  in  his  poverty.  Our  fathers  brought  with  them  both  the  necessity  and  spirit  of  work, 
and  made  it  respectable.  It  has  been  transmitted  as  the  highest  recommendation,  and  the 
most  honorable  character.  3.  The  political  position  of  labor  here  is  all-powerful,  and  so 
long  as  it  is  so,  it  can  not  but  be  respectable.  As  a  nation  of  workers,  we  demand  from  Gov 
ernment  a  security  for  the  interests  and  rights  of  labor,  and  one  of  those  rights  is,  that/re* 
American  labor  shall  not  be  put  on  the  same  level  with  the  forced  labor  of  other  countries, 
or  any  country.  It  is  only  necessary  for  the  people  of  this  country  to  understand  correctly 
what  the  true  interests  and  rights  of  labor  are,  and  they  are  sure  to  have  them  secured  at 
the  ballot-box.  No  earthly  power  can  hinder  it.  What  more  elevated  or  more  commanding 
position,  can  labor  possibly  occupy  ?  The  free  American  laborer  is  the  most  powerful,  and 
may  well  be  the  proudest  of  men. 

§  20.   The  dignity  of  labor. 

"  The  mandate  of  God  to  his  creature  man  is,  WORK  !"  "  The  GENIUS  of  work  is  the 
Conqueror,  the  supreme  Lawgiver,  the  born  King  over  affluent  idleness."  "  The  Leaders 
of  Industry  are  the  Captains  of  the  world.  If  there  be  no  nobleness  in  them,  there  will 
never  be  an  aristocracy  more." 

This  is  higher-toned  phrase  than  we  are  addicted  to  employ,  as  they  who  read  us  well 
know.  Nevertheless,  as  there  is  such  a  vast  body  of  comprehensi\»e  truth  in  it,  we  have 
borrowed  it  for  the  sake  of  brevity.  It  plants  labor  where  God  intended  it  should  stand,  in 
the  loftiest,  most  influential  position.  The  plan  of  Creation  is  visible  in  her  works.  Be 
hold  the  constitution  of  man,  contemplate  the  character  of  his  mind,  and  judge,  if  he  was 
not  made  for  work,  if  idleness  is  not  a  disease,  a  fatal  malady.  Creation  itself  is  called  the 
WORK  of  God.  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread,"  which,  though  announced 
as  part  of  the  DOOM  of  the  first  transgression,  is,  by  the  remedial  scheme  of  man's  redemp. 
tion,  converted  into  a  BLESSING  AND  A  DIGNITY.  Earth  is  a  work -field,  and  heaven  a  rest. 
It  is  as  bad,  as  vicious,  not  to  work  here,  since  God  has  so  appointed,  as  to  violate  any  other 

105 


10 

precept  of  Divine  authority.  The  example  of  God  in  the  WORK  of  Creation,  and  the  exam- 
pie  of  Christ  in  the  WORK  of  Redemption,  aside  from  the  force  of  command,  impart  the 
highest  possible  sanction  and  the  highest  possible  DIGNITY  to  those  labors  of  man  which 
have  become  necessary  in  this  life.  Human  labor  will  never  have  attained  its  true  position, 
till  it  shall  stand  at  the  head  of  human  affairs.  "  The  Leaders  of  Industry  are  the  Captains 
of  the  world."  Such  was  the  design — such  is  the  tendency.  They  who  work,  will  govern.. 
We  know  it  has  not  always  been  so,  and  that  was  a  vicious  state  of  society  when  and  wher 
ever  it  was  not  so.  We  know  that  labor  has  not,  in  all  history,  received  due  homage.  Bui 
this  fact  does  not  affect,  nor  impair  the  validity  of  its  claims. 

§  21.   The  physical  and  moral  healthfulness  of  labor. 

Doubtless,  in  the  best  possible  state  of  human  society,  labor  should  be  neither  a  toil,  nor 
a  task,  but  the  healthful  action  of  all  the  faculties,  bodily  and  mental.  Labor,  in 
most  parts  of  the  world,  has  been  so  unequally  divided,  that  parts  of  the  race  have  been  ex 
cessively  burdened,  while  others  have  suffered  equally  for  want  of  a  proper  share.  The 
pauper  or  forced  labor  of  Europe  is  an  example  of  the  first,  and  the  pampered  ease  of  it« 
masters  an  example  of  the  second.  The  whole  Eastern  world  is  full  of  scenes  of  this  kind. 
But  wherever  labor  is  rising,  or  has  risen  to  its  true  position  in  political  society,  we  observe 
both  the  physical  and  moral  healthfulness  which  it  diffuses  all  around.  It  is  good  for  man 
and  woman  to  work,  and  neither  can  find  the  greatest  comfort  and  happiness  attainable  in 
the  human  state,  without  employment.  Nor  is  it  possible,  without  diligence  in  some  indus 
trial  pursuit,  to  have  the  best  state  of  health  in  body  and  mind.  The  results  of  Providence, 
reveal  and  announce  his  designs,  viz.,  that  idleness  is  the  curse  of  the  human  state,  and  dil 
igent  occupation,  in  a  lawful  and  useful  calling,  the  consummation  of  its  blessedness. 

§  22.   The  content  of  labor. 

When  society  shall  have  made  labor  what  God  designed  it  should  be,  it  will  present  a 
happy  scene  of  contentment.  Specimens  are  frequently  found,  in  actual  life,  to  illustrate 
this  desirable  state  of  things.  Who  has  not  seen  them  ?  And  who,  seeing,  has  not  envied 
them  ?  Behold  the  farmer,  happy  in  his  own  domain ;  and  listen  to  the  housewife,  joyously 
exulting  in  song,  in  the  midst  of  her  children,  or  soothing  her  infant  to  repose  with  a  hymn 
of  early  love.  The  wagon  boy's  whistle,  the  woodman's  laugh,  the  boatman's  glee,  the 
sailor's  jolly  face,  and  all  the  forms  of  labor's  rest  on  the  past,  satisfaction  in  the  present, 
and  hope  in  the  future,  are  so  many  various  symptoms  of  labor's  content.  What  industrial 
calling  has  not  its  quiet  aspects  by  day,  and  its  refreshing  sleep  at  night  ? 

§  23.  A  new  Era  of  labor. 

It  is  impossible  not  to  observe,  that  labor  has  taken  up  a  new  position  on  this  continent, 
in  our  state  of  society,  and  that  a  new  Era  in  its  social  and  political  importance,  is  opened 
on  the  world.  If  no  interruption  should  take  place  in  its  progress,  it  will  be  the  true  Mil 
lenium  of  labor.  During  the  long  nightmare  of  despotic  rule  over  the  European  and  Eastern 
world,  the  breast  of  humanity  felt  its  heavy  tread,  and  the  toiling  millions  were  unable  to 
rise.  But  here  labor  has  sprung  to  its  feet,  lifted  up  its  hands  on  high,  clapped  them  with 
joyous  exultation,  and  learnt  a  new  song  of  freedom — THE  REWARD  OF  LABOR.  It  has 
risen,  at  one  bound,  to  influence  ana  authority.  There  has  never  before  been  such  a  scene 
in  the  history  of  civilization.  And  the  most  remarkable  and  most  auspicious  feature  of  it 
«,  that  it  occupies  a  wide  theatre — a  vast  domain  of  political  power.  Erect,  in  the  image 
of  God,  imitating  and  obeying  God,  as  a  diligent  worker,  man  here  has  taken  possession  of 
his  primitive  estate,  so  long  alienated,  and  cultivates  it  as  his  own,  himself  the  heir  of 
his  own  created  wealth;  and  not  only  the  heir,  but  the  sovereign  disposer  thereof.  W« 
know  not  what  may  grow  out  of  this  new  form,  this  apparently  auspicious  development  of 
human  society ;  but  it  has  much  contingent  promise  of  perpetuity,  enlargement,  confirma 
tion,  and  final  consummation  in  all  that  could  be  hoped  for. 

§  24.  The  contingency. 

A  protective  Tariff  is  the  sole  palladium  of  American  labor.  Without  that  defence,  it  is 
•s  sure  to  fall  back  prostrate  on  the  level  of  European,  Egyptian,  and  Asiatic  labor,  from 
which  it  has  been  lifted  up,  as  the  sun  will  rise  in  the  East  and  set  in  the  West.  If  Ameri 
can  labor,  having  the  power  in  its  hand,  will  not  protect  itself,  the  fault  of  parting  with  it* 
lights,  will  lie  at  its  own  door.  The  struggle  has  been  a  great  one,  and  it  will  yet  be  long 
protracted.  Either  the  rights  of  American  labor  must  give  way,  or  the  despotic  rule  of  the 
old  world  must  yield  to  the  claims  of  freedom.  It  is  impossible  that  both  should  stand.  And 
•o  long  as  both  are  in  conflict,  we  shall  not  fail  to  realise  a  sturdy  hostility  from  tottering 
mud  crumbling  thrones,  gathering  fresh  vigor  from  despair,  assisted  by  their  agent*  in  our 
•wn  bouorn,  who  are  paid  by  their  gold. 


11 

§  25.  Our  domestic  and  foreign  trade. 

From  Senate  Document,  No.  340,  2d  Session,  27th  Congress,  we  learn,  that  the  internal 
commerce,  or  domestic  trade  of  the  United  States,  is  two  thousand  millions  of  dollars  annually. 
Having  made  this  quotation,  as  it  stands  in  a  public  document,  we  would  add,  that  in  our 
opinion,  this  estimate  is  one  fifth  or  five  hundred  millions  less  than  the  facts  would  warrant. 
The  Honorable  Senator,  the  author  of  the  above  cited  document,  once  stated  to  us  a  few 
facts,  from  which  he  deduced  the  conclusion,  that  the  annual  amount  of  exchanges  required 
to  carry  on  this  domestic  trade,  could  not  be  less  than  four  hundred  millions  of  dollars.  Add 
to  this  all  the  money  required  to  be  used  in  paying  for  the  labor  employed  in  producing  these 
fruits  of  the  earth,  and  these  materials,  goods,  and  merchandise ;  add  all  required  to  pay  for 
their  transit  from  one  point  to  another  and  in  the  retail  distribution  of  them,  and  it  will  be 
.seen,  that  it  not  only  requires  a  large  circulating  medium,  which  nothing  but  banks  Could 
furnish,  but  great  activity  of  the  same.  It  will  also  be  seen,  as  our  annual  exports  do  not 
usually  exceed  one  hundred  inillionsy  that  our  domestic  trade  is  about  twenty  to  one  of  our 
foreign  trade,  and  that  on  the  former,  therefore,  is  our  chief  reliance  for  the  reward  of 
American  labor  and  industry.  The  work  of  production,  and  the  carrying  on  of  this  trade, 
must  of  course  form  innumerable  commercial  relations  between  the  producers  and  the  con 
sumers,  between  the  employers  and  the  employed,  between  the  laborers  and  the  moneyed 
capitalits.  Nearly  the  entire  subsistence,  and  nearly  all  the  growing  wealth  of  the  people 
of  this  country,  spring  from  the  employment  of  this  capital,  and  from  the  action  of  the  labor 
and  industry  sustained  by  it. 

§  26.  Deductions  from  the  foregoing  facts  and  reasonings. 

1.  Though  money  is  usually  understood  to  be  designated  by  the  term  capital,  in  the  com 
mercial  world,  it  appears,  that  labor,  together  with  those  moral  qualities  which  enter  into  it, 
constitutes  the  original  and  fundamental  capital  of  human  society,  and  is  more  important 
and  more  productive.  2.  That  the  capital  of  labor  is  more  influential  and  more  command 
ing,  socially  and  politically.  3.  That  the  relation  of  labor  to  moneyed  capital,  is  that  of  the 
agent  to  the  instrument,  of  the  hand  to  the  tool.  4.  And  therefore,  that  the  position  of  the 
capital  of  labor  is  more  dignified,  and  worthy  of  more  respect.  5.  That  the  interests  of  la 
bor  are  best  promoted  by  the  activity  of  moneyed  capital.  6.  That  the  interests  of  labor 
require  the  existence  of  corporate  bodies,  so  far  as  may  be  necessary  to  set  on  foot  and  ac 
complish  commercial  and  other  useful  works  and  enterprises.,  which  are  beyond  the  capacity 
of  individual  capital  and  unassociated  effort.  7.  That  since  banks  and  other  corporations 
give  security  to  and  invite  the  investment  of  moneyed  capital,  it  is  the  only  mode  by  which 
that  species  of  capital  can  be  brought  into  effective  use  for  the  benefit  of  the  public.  8.  That 
the  multiplication  of  corporations,  on  right  principles,  augments  democratic  influence,  by  th« 
distribution  of  the  powers  of  government  among  the  people.  9.  That  the  tendency  of  labor 
is  to  wealth,  and  that  of  wealth  to  want.  10.  That  the  political  power  of  labor  in  America* 
society,  is  dominant,  and  only  requires  correct  information,  as  to  its  best  interests,  to  secure 
them,  in  the  administration  of  public  affairs.  11.  That  the  vitality  of  moneyed  power  lies 
in  the  arm  of  labor.  12.  That,  in  the  relation  of  moneyed  capital  to  labor,  labor  has  the 
best  chances.  13.  That  a  correct  view  of  this  relation,  in  its  practical  effects,  is  of  great 
political  importance.  14.  That  a  great  and  disastrous  political  heresy,  in  regard  to  this  re 
lation,  has  for  a  long  time  pervaded  and  controlled  the  counsels  of  our  government.  15. 
That  the  rich  can  hide  from  a  storm  raised  by  government  against  them,  while  all  its  merci 
less  peltings  fall  upon  the  poor.  16.  That  the  true  policy  is  always  to  encourage  the  in 
vestment  of  moneyed  capital,  so  that  labor  can  reap  the  benefit.  17.  That  a  home  market 
is  the  most  productive  source  of  national  wealth.  18.  That  labor  in  this  country  occupies 
an  eminently  high  social  and  political  position,  as  compared  with  labor  in  all  other  parts  of  the 
world.  19.  That  labor  is  honored  of  God,  and  therefore  worihy  of  universal  respect. 
20.  That  it  is  most  healthful  to  body  and  soul.  2!.  That  it  is  most  fruitful  of  contentment. 

22.  That  with  American  society,  commenced  a  new  era  of  labor  in  the  history  of  the  world, 

23.  That  the  advancement  and  consummation  of  this  era,  is  contingent  on  a  protective 
tariff.     24.  That   our  home  trade  is  twenty  times  as  great  as  our  foreign  trade.     25.  That 
every  American  laborer  can  stand  up  proudly,  and  say,  I  AM  THE  AMERICAN  CAPITALIST, 
which    is  not  a  metaphor,  but  literal  truth. 

§  27.  A  picture. 

We  will  suppose,  that  the  government,  in  making  war  on  the  moneyed  capital  of  the 
country,  and  on  the  various  institutions,  corporations,  and  enterprises,  in  which  it  was  in 
vested,  has  succeeded  iOgSuppressing  them ;  that  it  has  broken  down  all  the  banks,  dissolved 
all  moneyed  corporations,  stopped  all  public  works  and  public  improvements,  and  will 
neither  do  these  things  itself,  nor  allow  others  to  do  them.  There  is  no  less  money  in  the  ; 
country,  than  there  was  before,  other  things  being  equal ;  but  it  is  chiefly  out  of  sight,  and 
little  of  it  in  use.  The  thousand*,  tens  of  thousands,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  laborer^ 


II 

Whose  families  depend  on  their  daily  wages  for  daily  bread,  solicit  employment,  but  tnere 
is  nobody  to  hire  them;  at  least,  not  more  than  one  in  many  of  them  can  get  anything 
to  do.  The  soil  of  the  country  yields  bountifully  to  the  labors  of  the  husbandman,  but  there 
is  no  market  for  its  products;  the  buz  and  din  of  our  manufactories  have  ceased,  and  they 
who  worked  in  them  have  disappeared ;  the  mechanic  finds  little  encouragement  for  the  use 
of  his  art ;  commerce  drops  her  wings,  and  her  ships  are  eaten  up  by  worms ;  the  banks  of 
our  canals  are  falling  in  like  a  neglected  ditch ;  our  railways  rust,  and  there  is  no  motive  to 
repair  the  damages  of  time  ;  our  cities  are  noiseless,  and  the  grass  grows  in  the  streets ;  and 
the  whole  country  has  fallen  into  a  deep  sleep,  a  perpetual  sabbath  of  repose.  But  there  is 
poverty,  hunger,  nakedness,  and  universal  misery.  The  wheels  of  government  go  heavily 
along,  for  lack  of  wherewithal  to  grease  them. 

We  admit  that  such  a  state  of  things  is  not  very  likely  to  come  to  pass ;  for  the  people,  in 
1840,  proved,  that  they  are  capable  of  foreseeing  the  evil,  and  of  preventing  it.  But  we 
respectfully  submit,  that  some  such  consequences  must  necessarily  come  to  pass,  from  a  full 
and  complete  operation  of  such  a  destructive  system.  Nay,  we  have  had  some  foretaste  of 
it  already,  as  all  the  people  of  this  country  are  witnesses,  in  the  partial  operation  of  such 
measures.  The  effect  has  been,  to  stop  the  use  of  money,  by  breaking  down  those  insti 
tutions,  through  whose  instrumentality  alone  it  can  be  had,  to  answer  the  demands  of  this 
great  and  enterprising  country.  For  an  eighth  ot  a  century,  we  had  been  rapidly  marching 
toward  the  consummation  of  such  a  destiny,  and  it  is  yet  to  be  decided,  probably  in  1844, 
whether  we  shall  get  in  that  path  again. 

§  28.  A  great  Fact. 

Till  within  a  few  years,  the  prosperity  of  this  country  and  its  increasing  wealth,  have 
been  unexampled  in  the  history  of  nations.  Small  as  our  population  was,  comparatively, 
and  comparatively  poor,  the  debt  incurred  by  the  war  of  Independence,  was  shouldered  by 
the  nation,  and  between  that  period  and  the  second  war  with  Great  Britain,  it  was  nearly 
liquidated.  This  second  struggle  brought  upon  us  another  burden,  but  this  too,  was  all  paid 
off  in  about  twenty  years,  and  in  1836  we  had  a  surplus  revenue  of  thirty  six  millions  to  dis 
tribute  among  the  states.  This  is  a  great  and  comprehensive  FACT,  to  which  we  desire  to 
call  very  special  attention.  During  this  half  century  of  prosperity,  we  labored  under  some 
disadvantages,  from  various  causes,  probably  from  none  more,  than  from  the  want  of  a  prop 
er  adjustment  and  uniform  action  of  our  tariff  system.  Nevertheless,  we  struggled  through 
them  all,  and  they  proved  insufficient  materially  to  mar  our  prosperity,  or  put  in  check  our 
increasing  wealth. 

§  29.  Another  great  Fact. 

It  is  certainly  very  remarkable,  in  view  of  the  previous  history  of  our  national  finances, 
which  had  improved  so  steadily,  and  at  last  swelled  to  such  a  scale  of  income,  that,  on  a 
sudden,  this  current  of  our  public  affairs  should  be  reversed ;  that,  in  a  time  of  peace,  the 
Government  could  not  get  money  enough  to  defray  its  own  expenses,  without  borrowing ; 
that  it  was  compelled  to  withhold  the  fourth  instalment  of  the  public  funds  voted  to  the 
States  in  1836;  and  that  the  expenditures  and  appropriations  of  the  Government,  from  the 
4th  of  March,  1837,  to  the  4th  of  March,  1841  (only  four  years),  should  have  been  somefifty 
millions  of  dollar*  in  excess  of  the  revenues  of  the  same  time  !  (See  our  Tract,  No.  1,  THJS 
TKST,  pp.  10  and  13.)  And  it  would  seem,  that  the  nation  has  been  plunged  in  a  slough  of 
this  kind,  from  which  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  out.  The  causes,  which  have  produced  such 
an  amazing  reverse  in  our  national  fortunes,  must  have  been  prodigiously  potent.  The  mo 
mentum  of  a  half  century  of  a  nation's  rapidly  increasing  prosperity,  rising  like  the  sun,  and 
•welling  like  a  mighty  river,  as  it  descends  into  the  sea,  required  no  common  cause  to  check, 
derange,  prostrate,  destroy  it.  There  is  no  accounting  for  this  GREAT  FACT,  except  by  mis- 
government,  and  that,  too,  on  a  stupendous  scale.  It  takes  a  long  time  to  build  up  a  nation ; 
but  destruction  is  a  quick  work. 

In  our  state  of  society,  a  good  Government  makes  a  prosperous  people.  It  is  impos 
sible,  that  this  country  should  not  be  growing  great  and  rich,  and  that  without  interruption 
or  check,  so  long  as  the  various  occupations  of  life  are  suitably  encouraged  and  protected, 
each  in  its  fair  proportion.  But  the  Government  had  so  legislated  away  the  prosperity  of  the 
people,  and  reduced  them  to  such  straits  and  such  distress,  that  the  sources  of  revenue  were 
cut  off  and  dried  up.  The  public  expenditures  were  also  unnecessarily  great  and  prodigal, 
and  altogether  unprecedented.  (See  our  Tract,  No.  1,  pp.  9  and  10.)  The  people  can  not 
supply  the  wants  of  the  Government,  unless  the  Government  gives  them  a  chance.  On  the 
other  hand,  they  are  sure  to  make  an  overflowing  treasury,  while  ina  state  of  prosperity, 
and  under  a  suitable  system  of  revenue  laws.  But  the  success  of  flR  Government,  in  its 
war  on  our  moneyed  institutions  and  other  great  enterprises,  in  which  mbneyed  capital  was 
invested,  broke  down  the  currency,  which  was  the  means  of  public  wealth,  by  being  the 
means  of  private  prosperity.  The  entke  credit  system  of  the  couatry,  under  which  we  had 

108 


13 

grown  up,  prospered,  become  wealthy,  and  powerful,  was  also  assailed  by  the  Government, 
and  bent  and  broke  under  the  weight  of  its  powerful  hand,  and  by  its  repeated  blows.  Was 
it  strange,  under  such  a  destructive  policy,  that  the  people,  the  Government,  the  whole  na 
tion  were  impoverished  ?  The  Government  had  struck  the  people  such  heavy  blows,  so  long 
continued,  that  the  misfortunes  of  the  people  fell  back  on  the  Government  with  a  weight, 
under  which  it  reeled,  as  the  people  had  reeled  before,  and  unfortunately  fallen.  The  Gov 
ernment  had  ruined  a  nation's  prosperity,  and  as  a  consequence  bankrupted  an  overflowing 
treasury.  (See  our  Tract  on  the  Currency,  No,  II.  p,  16,  for  the  aggregate  of  losses  to  the 
Country  by  that  Destructive  Dynasty.) 

§  30.   The  Chief  Cause. 

It  is  undoubtedly  true,  that  the  causes,  more  properly,  perhaps,  the  instruments,  have  been 
several,  and  the  system  of  injury  complicated,  by  which  the  country  has  been  so  fearfully 
rwn  down.  But  the  great  aim  of  that  destructive  policy,  which  has  been  practised  upon 
us,  was  to  set  labor  to  war  against  moneyed  capital,  by  legislation  and  Government  ;  and  the 
mode  of  this  warfare  was  an  endeavor  to  cripple  and  break  down  those  institutions  and  en 
terprises,  in  which  the  moneyed  capital  of  the  country  was  chiefly  vested. 

§  31.   The  destructive  and  fatal  effects  of  this  warfare. 

Unless  it  were  proposed  to  rob  moneyed  capitalists,  and  divide  the  spoils  directly,  any  at 
tempt  to  cripple  them  by  legislation  and  Government,  with  the  design  of  better  securing  the 
rights  of  the  laboring  classes,  must  necessarily  cripple  and  destroy  the  latter.  "Whatever  war 
the  Government  may  wage  against  capitalists,  short  of  robbing,'it  is  always  in  their  power 
to  withdraw  their  funds  from  those  uses  which  have  heretofore,  in  our  experience,  so  well 
served  the  convenience  of  the  public  and  the  wants  of  labor,  and  turn  them  into  investments, 
which  will  only  serve  themselves.  In  some  respects,  and  to  no  small  extent,  they  would  be 
able  to  serve  themselves  much  better  than  before,  as  by  exorbitant  usury,  and  in  other  ways 
taking  advantage  of  the  necessities  and  distresses  of  the  people,  which  must  necessarily  re 
sult  from  such  an  administration  of  public  affairs.  The  rich  can  protect  themselves,  but  the 
poor  can  not,  when  the  Government  forces  all  classes  to  change  their  modes  of  business  and 
of  living.  If  the  great  law  of  mutual  dependence  in  society  be  overlooked  or  violated,  in 
the  policy  and  measures  of  Government,  and  an  attempt  be  made  to  injure  and  cripple  moo- 
eyed  capitalists,  for  the  benefit  of  laborers,  the  most  fatal  consequences  must  unavoidably 
ensue.  Facts  of  this  kind  have  already  been  alluded  to,  in  cases  of  exorbitant  usury.  If 
the  rich  can  do  without  the  poor,  by  turning  their  capital  into  other  investments,  than  those 
which  give  to  the  latter  employment,  food,  raiment,  and  a  comfortable  home,  with  chances 
of  rising  in  the  world,  and  of  becoming  rich  in  their  turn,  the  poor  can  not  do  without  the 
rich,  who,  in  these  ways,  minister  to  their  necessities,  and  secure  to  them  the  means  of  bet 
tering  their  condition.  A  war  upon  the  rich,  in  legislation  and  government,  is  a  war  upon 
the  poor,  of  the  worst  kind,  and  of  the  most  disastrous  effects.  It  is  a  war  upon  the  most 
vital  interests  of  society,  and  upon  the  relations  of  mankind  in  the  social  state,  which,  if  car 
ried  out,  the  entire  social  fabric  must  bend  and  break. 

§  32.  A  plain  statement. 

Nothing  but  an  extraordinary  infatuation  could  have  shut  the  eyes  of  the  people  to  the 
FACT,  that  moneyed  capital  employed  in  the  country,  is  for  the  interests  of  labor ;  that  its 
uses  afford  chances  of  improvement  to  those  who  have  little,  and  give  bread,  clothing,  and  a 
home  to  the  poor;  that  rich  men  seek  to  invest  their  funds  where  they  can  be  employed  by 
labor ;  that  the  modes  of  investment  are  naturally  determined  by  the  habits  and  wants  of 
the  commercial,  agricultural,  manufacturing,  mechanical,  and  other  laboring  classes  of  the 
community ;  that  what  these  want  will  be  most  productive  to  capitalists,  because  most  bene 
ficial  to  labor-,  that  capital  in  large  amounts,  intrusted  to  the  keeping  and  management  of 
secondary  agents,  must  necessarily  be  vested  with  corporate  rights,  to  be  secure  for  all  con- 
cerned,  and  most  effective  for  general  good ;  that  moneyed  capitalists  would  never  put  their 
funds  in  other  hands  without  such  protection ;  that  banks  are  necessary  to  furnish  a  circu 
lating  medium,  convenient  in  form,  and  adequate  for  the  trade  and  business  of  the  country; 
that  all  these  institutions  had  their  origin  in  the  wants  and  necessities  of  the  people ;  that 
in  putting  down  and  destroying  them,  by  legislation  and  Government,  the  people  only  put 
down  and  destroy  themselves ;  and  that  the  greater  the  income  of  capital  vested  in  these 
various  forms,  as  a  permanent  state  of  things,  so  much  greater  the  evidence  of  general 
prosperity. 

But  the  revolution  introduced  in  the  financial  policy  of  the  Government,  and  forced  on 
th2  commercial  habits  of  the  people,  from  1830  to  1840,  broke  up  all  these  established  rela 
tions  of  the  different  parts  of  the  community  toward  each  other,  and  left  all  in  a  mass  of 
confusion  and  ruin,  to  be  reorganized  and  set  in  order  again,  as  best  they  could. 

109 


14 


§  33.  The  way  it  worked. 
It  is  true,  that  this  work  of  destruction  was  not  thoroughly  carried  out,  for  there  was  not 
time  for  it,  before  the  people,  with  ruin  staring  them  full  in  the  face,  began  to  feel  their 
danger,  by  the  pressure  of  present  calamity,  and  showed  symptoms  of  a  desire  to  avoid  it. 
Nevertheless,  these  old  institutions  of  the  country  were  shaken  by  the  onset;  some  of  them 
fell  down  and  were  entirely  broken  up ;  confidence  in  them  was  impaired ;  capitalists  knew 
not  where  they  could  safely  vest  their  funds  for  the  uses  of  the  community,  and  consequently 
withheld,  or  withdrew  them,  or  vested  them  in  forms  not  liable  to  such  attack ;  the  natural 
connexion  between  moneyed  capitalists  and  the  laboring  classes,  was  dissolved ;  while  the 
rich  were  trying  to  protect  themselves  from  the  effects  of  the  war  waged  upon  them,  in  the 
uses  of  the  functions  of  Government,  the  poor  were  plunged  in  want  and  distress ;  the 
financial  habits  of  the  Government  and  the  commercial  habits  of  the  people  were  entirely 
broken  up,  and  precipitated  into  new  modes  of  action,  leading  to  new,  and  as  could  not  be 
avoided,  to  painful  and  calamitous  results,  public  and  private;  the  credit  and  enterprises  of 
the  States,  were  prostrated  with  the  credit  and  enterprises  of  the  people ;  the  sources  of 
public  revenue  were  exhausted ;  and  Repudiation  followed,  with  its  indelible  stain  on  our 
national  character.  We  need  not  recite  more  particularly  the  ordeal  of  financial  embarrass 
ment  and  commercial  distress,  through  which  this  country  has  so  recently  passed,  by  mean* 
of  this  vindictive,  insane,  and  fatal  policy. 

§  34.   This  war  unnatural. 

It  is  certainly  unnatural  for  labor  to  do  that,  which  deprives  it  of  tools  to  work  with,  cuts 
off  its  chances,  and  involves  it  in  distress.  For  by  breaking  down  moneyed  capital,  it  breaks 
down  itself.  It  is  moneyed  capital  which  makes  business  grow  and  thrive,  gives  employment 
to  labor,  and  opens  to  it  avenues  to  success  in  life.  In  the  state  of  American  society,  and 
in  a  prosperous  condition  of  the  country,  a  comfortable  degree  of  wealth  is  within  the  reach 
of  every  honest,  industrious,  and  enterprising  man.  The  moneyed  capitalist  has  no  political 
superiority  or  advantage  over  the  laborer,  and  no  right  in  the  republic,  which  is  not  secured 
to  both.  It  is,  therefore,  the  laborer's  interest,  that  the  wealth  of  the  rich  should  be  so 
invested  as  to  impart  the  greatest  activity  to  trade,  and  the  greatest  effectiveness  to  useful 
enterprise;  and  in  nothing  is  this  end  so  surely  accomplished,  as  by  those  moneyed  and 
other  corporations,  which  are  organized  for  this  sole  purpose.  If  this  capital  were  to  lie 
dead,  the  loss  to  the  country  would  be  immense,  and  that  loss  would  of  course  be  divided 
among  all  classes  of  people,  and  participated  in  by  the  Government.  It  is  as  much  the  duty 
of  the  Government,  to  endow  moneyed  capital  with  the  faculties  of  the  greatest  activity 
and  effectiveness,  as  it  is  the  interest  of  its  possessors  to  consent  that  it  should  be  so  usedy 
and  of  labor  to  employ  it.  What  supreme  folly,  then,  for  labor  to  go  to  war  with  moneyed- 
capital  !  It  thereby  wars  against  its  own  life  and  means  of  success.  The  blow  aimed  at 
the  moneyed  capitalist,  strikes  over  on  the  head  of  the  laborer,  and  is  sure  to  hurt  the  lattei 
more  than  the  former. 

§  35.  The  capacities  of  our  Country. 

Well  and  rightly  governed,  it  is  capable,,  not  only  of  astonishing  the  world,  but  of  aston 
ishing  itself.  If  things  do  not  go  on  well,  it  must  be  owing  solely  to  the  perversion  of  our 
institutions  from  their  design.  There  is  no  sufficient  apology,  that  our  general  prosperity 
should  ever  be  interrupted.  It  is  impossible  that  it  should  be,  except  by  a  violation  or  mis 
application  of  the  trusts  reposed  in  our  public  functionaries.  By  a  suitable  protection  of  the 
interests  of  American  labor  and  industry,  from  a  self-sacrificing  rivalship  with  a  foreign,  op 
pressed,  and  degraded  pauperism,  which  is  in  no  wise  mitigated',  but  only  aggravated  and 
rendered  more  hopeless  by  the  favor  done  to  their  oppressors ;  by  a  proper  encouragement 
of  the  voluntary  enterprises  of  our  own  citizens,  the  people  of  this  country,  with  the  rich 
and  inexhaustible  treasures  of  creation  comprehended  in  our  jurisdiction,  ao*e  capable  of  pro 
ducing  amazing  results.  That  almost  astonishing  height  of  prosperity,  to  which  we  had  at 
tained,  under  all  the  disadvantages  of  a  defective  tariff  system,  before  the  advent  of  the  late 
Destructive  Dynasty,  is  conclusive  and  impressive  evidence  of  what  this  nation  is  capable 
of,  under  a  wise  and  faithful  administration  of  our  public  affairs.  We  had  been  put  in  a 
train,  by  which  we  were  enabled  to  discharge  with  ease  the  entire  and  heavy  debt  incurred 
by  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain,  and  to  overwhelm  the  public  treasury  with  surplus  funds ; 
the  public  domain  in  the  west  was  in  such  demand,  that  the  sales  of  one  year  amounted  to 
twenty-four  millions  of  dollars,  and  although  there  were  special  reasons  for  this  fact,  which 
could  not  be  expected  to  operate  in  perpetuity,  to  an  equal  extent,  nevertheless,  in  a  pros 
perous  state  of  things,  there  would  be  a  steady  increase  in  those  sales,  which,  under  an 
equitable  system  of  distributing  the  proceeds  among  the  States,  whose  property  they  are, 
would  relieve  the  burdens  of  the  indebted  States,  and  give  the  others  a  chance  for  such  en 
terprises  as  might  best  promote  their  interests. 

110 


15 

Providence  has  assigned  us  a  rich,  productive,  and  glorious  heritage,  and  established  among 
us  and  over  us  a  new,  regene^te,  and  admirable  system  of  Government.  It  has  been  abused, 
indeed ;  but  it  is  good.  All  we  want  is  good  and  faithful  men  at  the  head  of  it.  The  wealth 
of  the  country  is  inexhaustible,  and  the  enterprise  of  the  people  is  unsubdued,  notwithstand 
ing  all  our  late  misfortunes.  Give  them  a  good  Government,  and  they  can  not  help  going 
ahead,  and  outstripping  every  nation  on  the  globe. 

§  36.   The  chances  of  life  in  this  Country. 

Ours  is  a  country,  where  men  start  from  an  humble  origin,  and  from  small  beginnings  ris« 
{gradually  in  the  world,  as  the  reward  of  merit  and  industry,  and  where  they  can  attain  to 
the  most  elevated  positions,  or  acquire  a  large  amount  of  wealth,  according  to  the  pursuits 
they  elect  for  themselves.  No  exclusive  privileges  of  birth,  no  entailment  of  estates,  no  civil 
or  political  disqualifications,  stand  in  their  path ;  but  one  has  as  good  a  chance  as  another, 
according  to  his  talents,  prudence,  and  personal  exertions..  This  is  a  country  of  self-made 
•men.  than  which  nothing  better  could  be  said  of  any  state  of  society. 

§  37.  The  mutual  dependence  between  the  Government  and  the  People. 

Nothing  is  more  instructive  to  this  point,  than  the  chapter  of  our  own  history.  Except  as 
the  Government,  by  its  policy,  shall  enable  the  people  to  prosper,  in  a  free  country  like  ours, 
where  tyrannical  exactions  can  not  be  enforced,  the  Government  itself  can  not  prosper,  but 
.'ts  finances  will  be  embarrassed  as  soon  as  its  own  measures  shall  have  brought  embarrasa- 
.nerit  and  distress  on  the  people.  A  crippled  and  disheartened  population,  who  have  no 
uoney,  either  to  pay  taxes  or  buy  luxuries,  can  not  send  money  into  the  public  treasury. 
While  they  are  poor,  the  Government  will  be  poor. 

§  38.  A  Retrospect. 

Understanding,  as  we  now  do,  if  what  we  have  said  is  correct,  the  relation  between  the 
labor  of  the  country  and  its  moneyed  capital,  we  must  look  back  with  astonishment  at  the 
policy  of  the  Federal  Administration,  from  1829  to  1841,  when  the  cry  rung  through  the 
land,  and  never  ceased — DOWN  WITH  THE  BANKS  !  DOWN  WITH  MANUFACTORIES  !  Dowic 
WITH  CORPORATIONS  !  DOWN  WITH  CAPITALISTS  !  It  is  a  history  that  one  can  hardly  be 
lieve  in  ! 

While  memory  lasts,  and  fathers  are  capable  of  telling  the  story  to  their  children ;  while 
true  Americans  are  endowed  with  concern  for  the  welfare  of  the  country,  and  have  virtue 
enough  to  stand  up  for  its  interests ;  and  while  history  may  be  relied  upon  to  discharge  its 
impartial  functions,  it  will  not  fail  to  stand  stereotyped  in  the  minds  of  the  American  people, 
to  be  rehearsed  to  the  listening  and  succeeding  generation,  and  recorded  in  the  annals  of  this 
nation,  that,  for  the  period  above  named,  we  had  a  re-lapse  and  coil-lapse  in  our  national 
welfare,  never  to  be  forgotten;  that  an  unlucky  star  rose  in  our  hemisphere,  ascended 
to  its  meridian,  and  marched  to  the  western  hills,  leaving  an  OMINOUS  TAIL  BEHIND  ;  that 
the  people  were  persuaded  for  a  time,  that  it  was  the  TRUE  SUN,  and  were  hard  to  be  con 
vinced  of  its  eccentric  and  ill  boding  character;  that  it  brought  famine,  pestilence,  and 
death ;  that  demagogueism  was  the  rage  of  its  season,  innoculating  the  poor  with  a  mania 
against  the  rich,  and  the  laborer  with  jealousy  against  the  moneyed  capitalist;  that  the  love 
of  ONE  MAN  POWER,  was  the  chief  malady  that  afflicted  the  nation,  and  its  ascendency  the 
most  remarkable  occurrence  of  the  time  ;  that  the  long-established,  simple,  and  democratic 
habits  of  the  people,  social  and  political,  were  superseded  by  the  dictation  of  a  Chief,  and 
by  the  aristocratic  assumptions  of  his  menials;  that  new,  unheard-of,  and  destructive  doc 
trines  were  promulged  for  the  government  of  the  country ;  that  a  well-ordered  system  of 
currency  was  broken  up  and  destroyed ;  that  the  useful  relations  between  capitalists  and  the 
laboring  classes,  were  violently  assailed,  and  so  far  dissolved,  as  to  bring  great  distress  on 
the  industrious  and  working  population ;  that  States  and  large  corporations  were  first  enticed 
to  enlist  in  great  enterprises,  and  then  forced  to  suspend  them,  and  to  stop  payment,  by  sud 
den  changes  in  the  policy  and  measures  of  the  Government ;  that  our  credit  at  home  wa» 
prostrated,  and  abroad  became  the  by-word  and  scorn  of  nations ;  that  the  shameless  doc 
trine  of  the  Repudiation  of  debts,  was  for  the  first  time  avowed  and  sanctioned  by  legislative 
authority;  that  the  superstructure  and  very  foundations  of  society  were  shaken  in  the  gen 
eral  convulsion ;  in  short,  that  tunes,  modes,  customs,  morals,  and  manners  underwent  a 
complete  revolution,  so  that  the  republic  that  was,  could  hardly  be  recognised  in  the  new 
state  of  things. 

It  was  because  the  relation  of  labor  to  moneyed  capital,  was  entirely  mistaken  and  misrep 
resented,  and  a  war  of  Government  made  upon  the  latter,  as  if  it  was  the  natural  enemy  of 
the  former. 


16 

§  39.   The  Future. 

• 

The  dawn  of  a  brighter  day  has  gleamed,  or  begins  to  gleam  on  this  long-suffering  and 
much-abused  nation.  The  last  (27th)  Congress,  notwithstanding  the  TREASON  and  all  its  at 
tendant  difficulties,  gave  us  a  Tariff,  which  has  put  us  in  a  position  to  start  for  the  recovery 
of  a  long  lost  national  prosperity.  This  great  boon  of  Whig  policy  has  operated  like  a 
charm  on  every  branch  of  the  business  and  trade  of  the  country,  has  brought  back  the  spe 
cie,  the  absence  of  which  had  undermined  our  currency,  and  the  people  are  beginning  to 
open  their  eyes  to  the  true  character  of  that  Destructive  Dynasty  through  which  we  have 
passed.  They  see  what  ruin  it  brought  upon  us,  and  begin  to  understand  the  causes — espe- 
eiaLy  do  they  see,  that  the  war  of  Government  on  the  long-established  monetary  system  of 
the  country  and  its  great  commercial  and  financial  agencies,  was  a  war  on  its  labor  and  in 
dustry.  This  great  discovery  will  lead  to  important  results.  The  prophecies  of  the  faithful, 
uttered  in  dark  days,  being  now  interpreted  by  their  fulfilment,  the  prophets  themselves  will 
be  honored.  What  have  we  suffered  as  a  nation,  that  was  not  foretold  as  the  necessary 
consequence  of  that  destructive  policy  ?  What  of  good  was  predicted,  in  the  beneficent  op 
eration  of  a  Tariff  like  that  of  1842,  which  the  brief  experiment  does  not  begin  to  shower 
upon  us  ?  Who  are  they  that  foretold  these  things  ?  Who  is  CHIEF  among  them  ?  The 
sad  and  gloomy  days  of  our  political  misfortunes,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  are  drawing  to  a  close. 
The  steady  counsels  of  HENRY  CLAY,  once  and  for  a  long  time  spurned,  are  now  begin 
ning  to  be  appreciated.  The  eyes  and  hopes  of  the  nation  are  turned  and  turning  to  that 
bright  STAR  OF  THE  WEST,  and  the  suffrages  of  a  great  people  are  waiting  to  honor  him. 
It  is  yet  indeed  a  contingent  future,  into  whose  vista  we  gaze  with  an  interest  so  profound 
and  intense,  and  with  hopes  not  unmixed  with  concern,  because  it  is  contingent.  Never 
theless,  there  are  certain  and  numerous  facts,  rising  thick  and  fast,  out  of  the  past  and  the 
present,  the  grateful  import  of  which  can  hardly  be  mistaken.  The  people  are  waking ; 
they  are  coming ;  and  in  1844,  as  in  1840,  their  power  is  likely  to  be  felt.  Now,  as  then, 
they  understand  what  is  to  be  done,  to  make  miscreants  tremble,  and  drive  traitors  for  ever 
from  power  and  influence.  Enough  of  mischief,  surely,  has  been  achieved ;  LET  us  TRY  FOB 
THE  GOOD. 

§  40.  Revolutions  never  go  backward. 

Under  our  form  of  Government,  other  revolution  than  that  of  opinion,  is  impossible.  Can 
anybody  doubt  there  was  a  great  revolution  of  this  kind  in  1840  ?  And  where  is  that  feel 
ing  ?  Have  the  people  changed  their  minds  ?  They  would  not  act,  till  the  time  of  rescue 
should  come,  and  the  silly  crew  at  the  head  of  affairs,  took  the  people's  disgust  as  a 
compliment  to  their  treason !  The  banished  horde  also  took  courage.  But  the  sleeping  fires 
have  only  been  made  hotter,  by  that  respect  for  order  which  sealed  them  up,  and  for  a  time 
repressed  them.  The  internal  pressure  tends  upward,  to  open  a  place  of  utterance  ere  long, 
and  cast  its  broad  light  on  the  dark  upper  sky,  and  thence  to  astonish  those  below.  A  free 
nation,  once  convinced  of  its  wrongs,  must  be  avenged,  and  wo  to  them  who  have  done  the 
•wrong !  BACKWARD  ?  OR  FORWARD  ?  is  the  question  for  this  nation  to  answer,  and  it  WILL 
be  answered.  They  have  chosen  a  LEADER,  and  the  cry  is— ONWARD ! 

§  41.   The  means. 

Much  of  precious  time,  and  of  useful  appliances,  has  been  lost,  irrecoverably.  There  is  a 
partial  remedy,  however,  in  a  more  diligent  application  of  time  and  means  yet  on  hand. 
Will  not  they  who  can  speak,  make  themselves  heard ;  they  who  can  write,  take  the  pen ; 
they  who  can  work,  begin  to  stir ;  and  they  who  have  money,  give  it  freely,  at  the  call  of 
the  country  ?  Where  is  the  virtue  of  '76  ?  The  Destructive  Dynasty  has  done  us  infinitely 
worse  things,  than  the  British  Crown  ever  did.  Shall  a  confidence  in  our  Captain — he  is  a 
good  one,  truly — put  us  asleep  on  our  arms  ?  dfter  the  battle,  let  us  hope  for  the  repose, 
which,  in  manly  conflict,  shall  have  be^n  nurchased. 

i  «  112 


THE' 

f"  JUIIUS  TEACTS.     > 

,-:;:.;  .NO.  VIIL    mi^jmiS, 

MAY.]  PUBLISHED  EVERY  SECOND  MONTH.  [1844, 


THE  PUBLIC  LANDS. 


BY  JUNIUS, 

Author  of  "  THE  CRISIS  OF  THE  COUNTRY,"  and  other  Tracts  of  1840. 

Price,  3  cents  single,  $2  50  cts.  per  100,  or  $20  per  1000. 

TRACTS  ALREADY  PUBLISHED.   ' 

No.     I.  THE  TEST,  OR  PARTIES  TRIED  BY  THEIR  ACTS. 
«     II.  THE  CURRENCY. 
«    III.  THE  TARIFF. 
«    IV.  LIFE  OF  HENRY  CLAY. 
«      V.  POLITICAL  ABOLITION. 
«    VI.  DEMOCRACY. 
«  VII.  LABOR  AND  CAPITAL. 
"VIII.  THE  PUBLIC  LANDS. 

ID*  NOTICE  :— Committees,  Clubs,  and  all  persons  desirous  of  obtaining  these  Tracts, 
are  requested  to  send  their  orders,  with  remittances,  to  the  publishers,  Greeley  $  McElrath, 
Tribune  Office,  New  For/c,  who  will  promptly  forward  them  to  any  part  of  the  Union,  as  may 
be  directed.  Remittances  by  mail,  post  paid  or  free,  at  the  risk  of  the  proprietor.  Price  for 
any  one  of  the  series,  $2  50  cts.  per  100  copies,  or  $20  per  1000. 

H7*  Postmasters  are  authorized  by  law  to  make  remittances  under  their  frank. 


NEW  YORK: 
PUBLISHED  BY  GREELEY  &  McELRATH, 

TRIBUNE  BUILDINGS,  160,  NASSAU  STREET. 
1844. 


^Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1844,  by  CALVIN  COLTON,  in  the  Clerk's  office  of 
the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  and  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York.] 
10"  ALL  violations  of  copyright  are  forbidden. 

[One  Sheet  Periodical,  Postage  under  100  miles  1}  cents  ;  over  100  miles  21.  J 

113 


THE  PUBLIC  LANDS. 

§  1.   The  Question. 

THE  question  we  have  to  consider  is — What  were  the  conditions  of  the  Deeds  of  cession  of 
the  public  domain  from  the  States  to  the  United  States,  what  were  the  purposes  of  those  acts 
as  understood  by  the  parties,  and  what  practical  rule  or  rules  will  result  from  them,  for  the 
administration  of  this  great  estate,  and  for  the  disposition  of  its  proceeds  ? 

§  2.   The  original  Controversy  which  led  to  these  Cessions. 

It  should  be  understood,  that  while  the  Colonies  were  parts  of  the  British  empire,  the  pub 
lic  lands  were  chiefly  owned,  under  charter  rights  from  the  Crown,  by  Massachusetts,  Con 
necticut,  New  York,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  while  the  other 
of  the  thirteen  original  States  had  no  interest  in  them.  It  will  be  apparent,  however,  that 
the  perils,  toils,  cost  of  blood  and  treasure,  and  other  sacrifices  of  the  Revolutionary  strug-1 
gle,  fell  equally  upon  all  the  States,  while  the  debts  were  rapidly  accumulating,  and  in  the 
end  rose  to  a  great  and  oppressive  magnitude.  It  was  impossible,  in  these  circumstances,  to 
repress  the  question,  Whether  it  was  fair,  that  the  States  which  had  no  interest  in  the  titles 
of  the  public  lands,  should  be  obliged  to  fight,  shed  their  blood,  and  pour  out  their  treasures 
equally  in  defence  of  this  vast  territorial  domain,  and  finally  be  excluded  from  all  participa 
tion  in  the  benefits  ?  More  than  this,  whether  they  should  be  left  in  the  end,  with  a  debt 
upon  their  shoulders,  without  means  or  power  to  meet  it,  while  the  other  States,  which  would 
have  done  no  more,  would  have  an  estate  large  enough  for  an  empire,  and  valuable  beyond 
estimation  ?  No  one  can  deny  the  pertinence  of 'such  a  question.  It  was  unanswerable. 

§  3.    The  political  Character  of  the  Confederation. 

It  was  a  mere  association  of  separate  sovereignties,  for  common  good,  and  for  a  common 
end.  We  were  not  a  nation,  in  the  common  sense  of  the  term,  till  the  adoption  of  the  Con 
stitution,  unless  the  States  be  regarded  in  the  light  of  so  many  nations,  having  all  the  attri 
butes  of  sovereign  powers,  as  was  actually  the  case.  Of  course,  in  this  view,  we  were  not 
one  nation,  but  several,  which  leaves  the  matter  as  we  feel  obliged  to  represent  it.  The  Con 
federation  was  capable  of  dissolution  ;  the  Union  is  not,  except  by  violence.  The  question 
about  the  public  lands,  as  it  existed  among  the  States,  was  started,  agitated,  and  settled  by 
them,  in  their  capacity  and  character,  as  independent  sovereignties,  not  as  integral  portions  of 
a  republican  empire.  For  a  right  understanding  of  the  case,  in  determining  the  question  be 
fore  us,  it  is  necessary,  that  this  state  of  things  should  be  kept  in  view. 

§  4.   The  Action  of  the  old  Congress  on  this  Subject. 

Contemporaneously  with  the  agitation  of  this  question  among  the  States,  Congress,  for 
several  years,  sympathized,  and  formally  expressed  their  views  and  purposes.  To  check  the 
progress  of  discontent,  and  suppress  controversy  between  the  parties  to  this  question,  they 
had  recommended  a  cession  of  these  territories  to  the  United  States  for  common  use  and  ben 
efit,  and  in  October,  1780,  "  Resolved,  that  the  unappropriated  land  that  may  be  ceded  or 
relinquished  to  the  United  States,  by  any  particular  State,  pursuant  to  the  recommendation 
of  Congress  of  the  6th  of  September  last,  shall  be  disposed  of  for  the  common  benefit  of  the 
United  States,"  that  is,  of  the  confederated  States,  such  being  their  position  at  the  time,  before 
the  Union,  under  the  Constitution,  was  conceived.  The  recommendation  alluded  to  and  this 
resolution  were  held  out  as  a  lure  to  the  States,  and  as  a  security  of  their  rights  in  the  public 
domain.  Considering  the  character  of  the  Government  at  that  time,  under  the  Confedera 
tion,  it  was  precisely  the  same  as  saying  to  the  States,  in  order  to  remove  all  grounds  of 
jealousy  and  concern — You  shall  in  no  wise  lose  your  rights  in  this  property,  AS  STATES.  It 
was  to  rescue  the  lands  from  controversy  between  the  States,  that  this  arrangement  was  rec 
ommended  and  consummated,  and  not  to  invalidate  their  title  as  parties.  It  is  obvious,  if 
the  States,  which  owned  the  lands,  were  unwilling  to  give  a  part  interest  in  them  to  the  other 
States,  that  they  would  never  entertain  the  idea  of  making  over  the  whole  to  a  third  party, 
and  all  for  the  benefit  of  that  party.  It  would  be  absurd  to  suppose,  that  such  was  the  case. 
But  the  term  "  United  States,"  at  that  time,  was  synonymous  with  confederated  States,  and 
that  settles  the  point. 

§  5.  The  Deeds  of  Cession. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  that,  the  States,  which  owned  the  public  lands  by  charter  rights,  were 
Slow  and  reluctant  to  part  with  them,  and  it  was  only  a  sense  of  justice  to  the  other  States, 
and  of  the  necessities  of  the  country,  that  finally  prevailed.  New  York  came  first  into  the 
arrangement,  in  1780.  Virginia,  whose  domain  was  vast,  held  the  question  in  suspense,  tifl 
1783,  and  although  the  resolution  of  Congress,  in  the  foregoing  section,  was  couched  in 
terms  expressly  to  guaranty  the  ultimate  destination  of  the  avails  or  proceeds  of  the  Jands 

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3 

to  the  States,  in  their  State  capacity,  yet,  to  make  the  security  doubly  secure  against  any  pos 
sible  future  interpretation  of  the  cession  into  a  quitclaim,  the  Legislature  of  Virginia  selected 
the  most  explicit  terms  to  guard  and  defend  this  point,  in  their  act  of  cession,  as  follows  : — 
"  That  all  the  lands  within  the  territory  so  ceded,  and  not  reserved,"  &c.,  "  shall  be  consid 
ered  a  COMMON  FVND,forthe  use  and  benefit  of  such  of  the  United"  (confederated)  "  States  as  have 
become,  or  shall  become,  members  of  the  Confederation,  or  Federal  alliance  of  the  said  States*  Vir 
ginia  inclusive,  ACCORDING  TO  THEIR  USUAL  RESPECTIVE  PROPORTIONS  in  the  general  charge  and 
expenditure,  and  shall  be  FAITHFULLY  AND  BONA  FIDE  disposed  of  for  that  purpose,  AND  FOR  NO 

OTHER  USE  OR  PURPOSE  WHATSOEVER." 

Massachusetts  followed  in  1784,  and  having  the  law  of  Virginia  before  them,  must  have 
intended  the  same  thing.  In  1786,  Connecticut  passed  her  act  of  cession  "  to  the  United" 
(confederated)  "  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  for  the  common  use  and  benefit  of  the  said 
States,  Connecticut  inclusive."  In  1787,  South  Carolina  ceded  her  vacant  territory  "to  the 
United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  for  the  benefit  of  said  States."  In  1789,  North  Caro 
lina  ceded  in  terms  as  follows : — "  All  the  lands  intended  to  be  ceded  by  virtue  of  this  act, 
shall  be  considered  as  a  COMMON  FUND  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  United"  (confederated) 
"  States  of  America,  North  Carolina  inclusive,  ACCORDING  TO  THEIR  RESPECTIVE  AND  USUAL 
PROPORTION  in  the  general  charge  and  expenditure,  and  shall  be  FAITHFULLY  disposed  of  for  that 
purpose,  AND  FOR  NO  OTHER  USE  OR  PURPOSE  WHATEVER."  The  cession  from  the  State  of 
Georgia  was  made  in  1802,  the  conditions  of  which  are  as  follows  : — "  That  all  the  lands  ce 
ded  by  this  agreement  to  the  United  States,  shall  be  considered  as  A  COMMON  FUND,  for  the  «M 
and  benefit  of  the  United  States,  Georgia  included,  and  shall  be  faithfully  disposed  of  for  that 
purpose,  and  for  no  other  use  or  purpose  whatever." 

§  6.  Exposition  of  tlie  Deeds. 

First,  it  is  to  be  considered,  that  they  originated  and  were  matured  under  the  Confedera 
tion,  when  the  States  existed  as  independent  sovereignties,  with  their  separate  systems  of 
political  economy.  The  agitation  of  the  question  commenced  early  in  ihe  history  of  the 
Revolutionary  war,  and  the  principles  of  cession  were  settled  before  1780,  in  which  year  the 
old  Congress,  as  we  have  seen,  acted  formally  on  the  subject,  first,  by  recommending  this 
course  to  the  States,  and  next,  by  adopting  a  resolution  to  secure  the  rights  of  the  States. 
The  acts  of  cession  by  six  of  the  seven  ceding  States,  bear  the  following  dates  : — that  of  New 
York,  1780 ;  of  Virginia,  1783  ;  of  Massachusetts,  1784  j  of  Connecticut,  1786 ;  of  S.  Carolina, 
1787 ;  of  N.  Carolina,  1789 ;  and  the  Constitution  was  adopted  in  1789.  Thus  it  appears,  that 
the  whole  plan  was  fixed  in  that  state  of  things,  which  existed  under  the  Confederation.  This 
is  an  important  fact  in  the  question  of  interpretation,  as  it  goes  to  show  in  what  sense  the 
terms  and  phraseologies  of  the  Deeds  of  cession  were  used.  The  States  at  that  time  had  no 
ideas  of  the  UNION,  as  embodied  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  as  enter 
tained  since  its  adoption  ;  but  they  all  looked  to  their  separate  interests  as  paramount  with 
them  to  all  other  considerations.  In  this  view,  let  us  examine  the  terms  and  phraseologies 
of  the  Deeds.  1.  "  Shall  be  considered  a  common  fund  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  such  of  the 
United"  (confederated)  «  States,  as  have  become,  or  shall  become,  members  of  the  Confedera 
tion,  or  Federal  alliance  of  the  said  States."  The  words  «  common  fund,"  and  "  such  of  the 
United  States,"  in  connexion  with  what  follows,  most  clearly  constituted  the  States,  in  dis 
tinction  from  the  Confederation,  as  the  parties  to  be  benefited  by  this  arrangement.  Every 
one  will  see,  that  such  language  was  not  required  in  a  cession  to  the  nation,  for  the  use  and 
benefit  of  the  nation,  and  that  it  is  incredible  it  should  have  been  employed  for  that  object. 
2.  "  Virginia  inclusive,"  "  Connecticut  inclusive,"  "  North  Carolina  inclusive,"  "  Georgia  in 
cluded."  This,  it  will  be  observed,  is  a  legal  technicality,  arising  from  the  principle  of  law, 
that  when  one  party  of  two  or  more  parties,  makes  a  conveyance  to  the  others,  as  in  this 
case,  the  party  executing  the  deed  retains  no  right,  but  conveys  all  title,  except  by  the  in 
troduction  of  this  saving  clause,  as  "Virginia  inclusive,"  which  leaves  Virginia  her  title,  ac 
cording  to  the  terms  specified.  If  the  cession  had  been  made  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the 
United  States  as  one  nation.,  Virginia  of  course  would  have  been  included,  and  there  would 
have  been  no  need  of  this  phrase  ;  but  as  it  was  manifestly  made  for  the  use  and  benefit  of 
the  States,  in  their  separate  capacities,  it  was  necessary  in  law  to  introduce  this  phrase,  to 
save  the  right  of  Virginia,  else  she  would  have  retained  none.  If  there  were  no  other  evi 
dence  of  the  intent  of  this  instrument,  as  being  for  the  States,  and  not  for  the  nation,  this 
alone  would  be  conclusive.  3.  "  According  to  their  usual  respective  proportions  in  the  gen 
eral  charge  and  expenditure."  Here  is  the  rule  of  distribution.  It  would  be  strange,  in 
deed,  that  it  should  be  possible  to  suppose  that  no  distribution  was  intended,  when  the  rule 
is  given  !  Can  anything  be  more  clear  ?  4.  «  Shall  be  faithfully  and  bona  fide  disposed  of 
for  that  purpose."  "Bona  fide,"  in  good  faith.'  But  what  faith  is  required  for  a  party  to 
manage  its  ovm  for  itself  ?  If  the  public  domain  is  the  property  of  the  United  States  as  a 
•nation,  there  is  no  faith  with  the  States  concerned  in  its  administration.  5.  "  And  for  no 
other  use  or  purpose  whatsoever."  If  these  lands  were  not  given  in  trust  for  the  use  and 

115 


benefit  of  the  States  as  such,  then  the  contracting  parties  are  chargeable  with  the  absurdity 
of  agreeing,  that  they  shall  not  be  disposed  of  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  foreign  powers  \ 
Was  there  any  apprehension  of  that  ? 

With  these  express  and  explained  conditions  (it  is  remarkable  that  they  were  explained  by 
expletive  phraseology),  the  General  Government  accepted  the  trust,  and  became  a  party  to 
the  covenant.  It  was  to  settle  a  most  serious  difference,  an  alarming  controversy  among  the 
States — a  controversy  which  had  well  nigh  lost  us  our  independence,  and  which,  if  contin 
ued,  would  have  rendered  independence  of  little  avail.  It  was  a  great  compromise,  such  as 
has  frequently  characterized  our  history  in  our  more  critical  emergencies.  But  the  States 
took  care  not  to  surrender  their  rights. 

§  7.   The  Deeds  of  Cession,  Deeds  of  Trust. 

In  all  cases  of  trust,  the  trustee  is  not  proprietor  of  that  which  is  put  into  his  hands,  but 
an  agent  bound  by  the  instructions  of  the  instrument  that  invests  him  with  his  functions. 
This  is  a  principle  which  is  perfectly  understood,  because  it  is  one  constantly  practised  in 
society,  in  the  administration  of  common  law  and  statute  regulations.  In  the  case  of  Jack 
son  vs.  Clark,  Supreme  Court,  U.  S.,  1  Peters,  635,  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  after  having  cited 
the  terms  and  conditions  of  the  Virginia  cession,  as  we  have  done  above,  says — "  The  Gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States,  then,  received  this  territory  in  trust,  not  only  for  the  Virginia 
troops  on  the  Continental  establishment,  but  also  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  members  of 
the  Confederation :  and  this  trust  is  to  be  executed,  by  a  faithful  and  bona  fide  disposition  of 
the  land  for  that  purpose.  We  can  not,"  says  the  Chief  Justice,  "  take  a  retrospective  view 
of  the  then  situation  of  the  United  States,  without  perceiving  the  importance  which  must  have 
been  attached  to  this  part  of  the  trust,"  &c.  Throughout  his  argument,  in  this  decision,  the 
Chief  Justice  uniformly  calls  these  Deeds  of  Cession  "  a  trust ;"  and  there  is  probably  no 
man  who  would  presume  to  call  this  authority  in  question. 

In  1825,  the  Hon.  Rufus  King,  of  New  York,  introduced  a  resolution  into  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States,  having  in  view  the  appropriation  of  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands,  by 
the  States,  to  the  emancipation  and  colonization  of  slaves,  with  the  consent  of  parties,  which 
began  thus : — "  Resolved,  that  as  soon  as  the  portion  of  the  existing  funded  debt  of  the  Uni 
ted  States,  for  the  payment  of  which  the  public  land  is  pledged,  shall  have  been  paid  off," 
&c.  Of  this  resolution,  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  in  a  letter  of  Dec.  14;  1831,  to  the  Rev. 
R.  R.  Gurley,  Sec.  of  the  Am.  Colonization  Society,  says  : — "  I  have  always  thought,  and  still 
think,  that  the  proposition  made  by  Mr.  King,  in  the  Senate,  is  the  most  unexceptionable," 
&c.  This  term,  "  unexceptionable,"  we  suppose,  refers  to  the  right  of  the  States  to  the  pro 
ceeds  of  the  public  lands,  as  the  recognised  ground  of  Mr.  King's  resolution. 

Mr.  Madison,  in  a  letter  to  the  same  gentleman,  on  the  same  subject,  Dec.  29, 1831,  says : 
"My  thoughts  and  hopes,"  (for  the  aid  of  Colonization,)  "have  long  been  turned  to  the 
rich  fund  presented  in  the  Western  lands  of  the  nation,  which  will  soon  entirely  cease  to  be 
under  a  pledge  for  another  object."  General  Jackson,  in  his  message  of  Dec.,  1832,  says : 
"As  the  lands  may  now  be  considered  as  relieved  from  the  pledge,  the  object  for  which  they 
were  ceded  having  been  accomplished,"  &c. 

These  several  authorities,  in  view  of  the  language  of  the  Deeds  of  cession,  will  doubtless 
be  regarded  as  sufficient  to  establish  the  "  TRUST." 

§  8.   The  Principle  of  Distribution  recognised  in  the  Trust. 

"  According  to  their  usual  respective  proportions  in  the  general  charge  and  expenditure." 
Here,  as  will  be  seen,  is  at  the  same  time  the  principle  and  the  rule.  That  such  was  the  un 
derstanding  of  the  compact  between  the  States  on  one  side  and  the  United  States  on  the  other, 
is  evident,  first  from  the  fact  that  the  Deeds  of  Cession  were  familiar  to  all  the  parties  before 
they  were  finally  ratified,  and  next  from  the  fact,  that  the  United  States  accepted  the  trust  on 
this  condition  and  with  these  instructions.  If  there  had  been  nothing  else,  either  in  the  his 
tory  of  the  time,  or  in  the  Deeds  of  conveyance,  to  settle  and  determine  the  -principle,  of 
Distribution,  this  alone  would  fix  it.  But  we  know  very  well,  that  these  Cessions  were  made 
under  the  Confederation,  as  the  date  and  terms  of  them  show,  when  each  State  looked  after 
its  own  interests  with  a  jealous  eye.  Hence  we  see  the  reason,  why  these  Deeds  are  so  care 
fully  guarded  against  acts  of  usurpation  and  fraud  on  the  part  of  the  General  Government, 
which,  it  was  justly  apprehended,  might  be  committed  on  this  immense  estate.  No  one  can 
read  the  history  of  that  time  and  these  documents,  and  not  be  convinced,  that  such  was  their 
aim;  and  if  it  was,  and  if  it  was  so  understood  by  all  the  parties,  that  is  enough. 

§  9.   The  Assumption  of  State  Debts  in  1790. 

As  all  the  States,  united,  had  fought  the  battles  of  the  Revolution,  and  as  one  of  the  great 
advantages  of  independence  acquired,  would  be  the  possession  of  the  wealth  of  the  public 
lands,  it  was  only  fair,  that  the  States  should  be  interested  in  these  lands,  "  according  to  their 
usual  respective  proportions  in  the  general  charge  and  expenditure."  After  long  delays,  and 
with  great  difficulty,  this  question  was  finally  and  equitably  adjusted,  and  the  General  GOT- 

116 


eminent  was  made  the  TRUSTEE  of  the  public  domain,  for  and  in  behalf  of  the  parties,  pro 
prietors,  that  is  the  States,  as  we  have  shown.  But  both  the  nation  and  the  States  were  left 
ander  the  burden  of  heavy  debts  at  the  close  of  the  war.  In  1790,  with  a  population  of 
about  3,000,000,  and  a  gross  national  revenue  of  only  $2,382,617,  the  debts  of  the  States 
were  over  $20,000,000,  and  those  of  the  United  States,  $56,000,000.  (See  House  Document 
No.  296,  3d  session,  27th  Congress,  page  470.)  As  the  General  Government  had  in  charge 
the  public  lands,  the  property  of  the  States,  as  security,  it  was  required  by  the  States,  that 
the  United  States  should  assume  the  State  debts,  chiefly  incurred  by  the  war,  which  was  done 
in  1790,  as  follows  -.—For  New  Hampshire,  $300,000 ;  for  Massachusetts,  $4,000,000 ;  for 
Rhode  Island,  $200,000;  for  Connecticut,  $1,600,000;  for  New  York,  $1,200,000;  for  New 
Jersey,  $800,000 ;  for  Pennsylvania,  $2,200,000 ;  for  Delaware,  $200,000 ;  for  Maryland, 
$800,000 ;  for  Virginia,  $3,500,000 ;  for  North  Carolina,  $2,400,000 ;  for  South  Carolina, 
$4,000,000 ;  for  Georgia,  $300,000.  (See  Document  as  above.) 

To  show  the  grounds  of  this  assumption,  and  the  consideration  held  in  charge  therefor,  we 
need  only  cite  the  22d  section  of  the  ACT  of  assumption,  as  follows  : — "  dnd  be  it  further 
enacted,  That  the  proceeds  of  the  sales,  which  shall  be  made  of  lands  in  the  Wesiern  Territory, 
now  belonging,  or  that  may  hereafter  belong,  to  the  United  States,  shall  be,  and  are  hereby,  ap 
propriated  towards  sinking  or  discharging  the  debts,  for  the  payment  whereof  the  United 
States  now  are,  or  by  virtue  of  this  act,  may  be,  holden,  and  shall  be  applied  solely  to  that 
use,  until  the  said  debts  shall  be  fully  satisfied." 

Here  is  a  distinct  recognition  of  the  "  TRUST,"  and  a  willing  discharge  of  its  obligations, 
out  of  its  avails,  or  holding  its  avails  in  mortgage.  As  this  debt  could  not  be  immediately 
paid,  but  must  be  necessarily  funded,  the  transaction  was  in  effect  and  simply  a  loan  of  the 
credit  of  the  United  States  to  the  States,  for  their  relief,  the  former  holding  the  property  of 
the  latter  as  security,  and  being  at  the  same  time  the  Trustee  and  Agent  of  that  property. 
It  is  called  assumption.  But  so  far  from  being  a  gratuitous  assumption,  it  was  a  fair  com 
mercial  transaction — a  bargain  to  pay,  for  a  valuable  consideration— in  this  case,  a  full  and 
safe  consideration.  The  gratuity  was  rather  from  the  States  to  the  United  States,  in  con 
senting  to  mortgage  their  properly,  to  pay  debts  which  had  been  contracted  for  the  party  that 
was  made  the  Agent  and  Trustee  of  the  public  domain,  if,  indeed,  it  is  proper  to  erect  two 
such  parties  m  the  case.  But  we  admit  and  maintain,  that,  in  many  important  respects,  re 
garding  public  policy,  the  States  are  merged  in  the  United  States,  as  parts  of  a  whole,  and 
that  the  interests  of  the  former  can  not  be  easily  separated  from  those  of  the  latter,  nor  those 
of  the  latter  from  those  of  the  former.  The  States  were  magnanimous,  and  consulted  the 
general  welfare,  in  putting  the  public  domain  in  charge  of  the  United  States,  when  the  coun 
try  was  in  such  straits ;  and  for  these  reasons  of  a  generous  and  noble  character,  they  were 
and  are  entitled  to  equally  generous,  certainly  to  fair  treatment  from  the  other  side. 

§  10.  A  great  Sacrifice  made  ly  the  States  for  the  general  Good. 

The  Articles  of  Confederation  proved  totally  inadequate  for  the  necessities  of  the  country, 
especially  in  regard  to  the  power  of  raising  revenue,  which  is  the  life  of  any  government. 
With  a  public  debt  of  nearly  eighty  millions,  and  a  revenue  of  less  than  two  millions  and  a 
half,  what  was  to  be  done  1  It  was  in  these  straits  that  the  reorganization  of  the  General 
Government  was  conceived,  and  the  Constitution  oi  the  United  States  was  adopted,  to  get 
out  of  these  difficulties.  In  the  consummation  of  this  great  work,  the  States  were  called 
upon  to  sacrifice  all  their  power  of  raising  revenue  by  imposts,  and  to  fall  back  on  their  in 
ternal  resources  and  direct  taxation,  for  all  the  necessities  of  their  respective  commonwealths, 
It  was  a  great  demand,  certainly ;  but  they  generously,  magnanimously  made  the  sacrifice, 
for  the  general  good,  and  deprived  themselves  forever  of  this  important,  it  might  be  called  indis 
pensable  power  of  political  sovereignties.  Had  they  not  known,  that  the  public  lands  were 
theirs,  subject  only  to  the  debts  of  the  United  States  then  existing,  would  they,  could  they,  in 
safety  and  common  prudence,  have  done  this  ? — Never.  But  it  was  done — done  in  good 
faith — done  for  the  public  weal,  from  the  most  patriotic  motives,  and  the  States  were  left  to 
get  along  as  they  could,  till  the  lien  of  the  public  debt  on  the  public  lands  should  be  worked 
off  through  the  agency  of  the  General  Government.  Give  back  to  the  States  this  power  of 
raising  revenue  by  imposts,  which  was  so  nobly  resigned  by  them  to  the  United  States,  and 
Pennsylvania,  with  the  customs  of  Philadelphia,  and  of  her  other  entrepots  in  her  hand,  might 
laugh  at  her  debt  of  forty  millions.  Every  indebted  State  of  the  Union  could  relieve  itself 
at  once,  and  the  non-indebted  States  might  enter  on  magnificent  schemes  of  internal  improve* 
ment.  But  what  would  become  of  the  United  States  ? — The  Union  would  be  dissolved,  be 
cause  it  could  not  subsist  without  this  power.  The  States  might  justly  claim  a  consideration 
for  the  resignation  of  it ;  but  they  modestly  ask  only  that  which  was  their  own,  and  is  their 
own* 

§  11.  Another  Sacrifice. 

Patiently  the  States  waited  for  the  liquidation  of  the  public  debt,  when,  in  1812,  while  the 
debt  was  yet  considerable,  we  were  overtaken  with  the  second  wav  with  Great  Britain,  and 

117 


came  out  of  it  with  a  debt  of  $168,000,000.  Though  ^the  public  lands  were  not  liable  for 
this  new  debt,  still  the  States  generously  allowed  the  proceeds  of  their  own  property  to  be 
applied  to  its  extinguishment,  and  it  was  not  till  1836,  that  the  first  dividend  was  awarded 
in  the  shape  of  a  d&tiosite,  of  surplus  revenue  from  the  National  Treasury,  the  States  being 
held  liable  to  Treasury  warrants  at  any  time  for  its  repayment ! 

§  12.  Early  Views  of  the  Government  as  to  the  legitimate  Source  of  Federal  Revenue. 
It  will  be  found  by  an  examination  of  the  Journals  of  the  old  Congress,  while  the  Deeds 
of  Cession  of  the  public  lands  from  the  States  were  going  on,  that  the  lands  were  not  looked 
to  as  a  source  of  revenue  for  the  ordinary  purposes  of  the  Government,  but  that  the  most 
strenuous  efforts  were  made  to  mature  and  establish  a  revenue  system  by  imposts,  adequate, 
not  only  for  current  expenses,  but  to  pay  the  interest  and  principal  of  the  public  debt.  (See 
Ho.  Doc.  296,  3d  sess.,  27th  Cong.,  p.  177,  and  onward.)  These  efforts  were  continued,  till 
the  consummation  of  the  plan  in  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  the  powers  of  which  were 
supposed  and  intended  to  answer  this  purpose.  They  are  doubtless  ample.  Not  a  word  is 
said,  not  a  symptom  is  manifested,  in  this  early  history  of  the  Government — burdened  as  it 
was  with  debt,  slender  as  was  its  revenue — not  a  word  of  reliance  on  the  public  lands  to  an 
swer  the  permanent  necessities  of  the  Federal  authorities.  Nothing  can  be  stronger  than 
this  negative  evidence,  to  show  the  true  position  which  the  public  lands  occupied  in  the  pub 
lic  mind  of  that  period — that  they  were  not  regarded  as  the  property  of  the- nation,  and  could 
never  be  legitimately  relied  upon  for  the  ordinary  purposes  of  Federal  revenue. 

§33.   General  Jackson's  Opinion  on  Distribution. 

In  his  first  Message,  1820,  after  alluding  to  the  different  opinions  on  internal  improve 
ment  by  the  General  Government,  but  acknowledging  its  importance,  he  says  :  "  To  avoid 
these  evils,  it  appears  to  me,  that  the  most  safe,  just,  and  federal  disposition  which  could  be 
made  of  the  surplus  revenue,  would  be  its  apportionment  among  the  several  States,  accord 
ing  to  their  ratio  of  representation." 

In  the  annual  message  of  1830,  speaking  of  internal  improvement,  and  of  distributing 
surplus  funds  among  the  States  for  that  object,  he  says  : — 

"  That  the  plan  under  consideration  would  derive  important  advantages  from  its  certainty,  and 
that  the  moneys  set  apart  for  these  purposes  would  be  more  judiciously  applied,  and  economically 
expended,  under  the  direction  of  the  State  Legislatures,  in  which  every  part  of  each  State  is  imme 
diately  represented,  can  not,  I  think,  be  doubted."  Again  :  "  Each  State  would  receive  its  quota 
of  the  national  revenue  from  a  fixed  principle,  as  a  matter  of  right,  and  from  a  fund  to  which  it  had 
itself  contributed  its  fair  proportion." 

In  the  message  of  December,  1832,  he  says  : — 

"  Among  the  interests  which  merit  the  consideration  of  Congress,  after  the  payment  of  the  pub 
lic  debt,  one  of  the  \most  important,  in  my  view,  is  that  of  the  public  lands.  Previous  to  the  for 
mation  of  our  present  Constitution,  it  was  recommended  by  Congress,  that  a  portion  of  the  waste 
lands  owned  by  the  States,  should  be  ceded  to  the  United  States,  for  the  purposes  of  general  har 
mony,  and  as  a  fund  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  icar.  The  recommendation  was  adopted,  and  at 
different  periods  of  time,  the  States  of  Massachusetts,  New  York,  Virginia,  North  and  South  Car 
olina,  and  Georgia,  granted  their  vacant  soil  for  the  uses  for  which  they  had  been  asked.  As  the 
lands  may  now  be  considered  as  relieved  from  this  pledge,  the  object  for  which  they  were  ceded  having 
been  accomplished,  it  is  in  the  discretion  of  Congress  to  dispose  of  them  in  such  way  as  best  to  con 
duce  to  the  quiet,  harmony,  and  general  interest  of  the  American  people."  ....  a  It  seems  to  me 
to  be  our  true  policy,  that  the  public  lands  shall  cease,  as  soon  as  practicable,  to  be  a  source  of 
revenue." 

We  have  not  been  accustomed  to  regard  General  Jackson  as  openly  recognising  the  right 
of  the  States  to  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands  ;  but  we  think  he  has  hit  the  main  and  most 
important  historical  points  in  the  above  cited  passages,  although  he  may  have  avoided  the  con 
clusions  to  which  they  tend.  Inadvertently,  or  otherwise,  he  has,  with  equal  simplicity  and  truth, 
recognised  the  facts,  that  these  lands  were  "  owned  by  the  States,"  when  the  cession  was  pro 
posed  by  the  United  States ;  that  the  object  of  the  recommendation  was  "  for  general  harmo 
ny,  and  as  a  fund  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  war;"  that  the  cessions  were  made  "for  the 
uses  for  which  they  had  been  asked ;"  that  a  time  had  arrived,  when  these  lands  were  "  re 
lieved  from  the  pledge"  of  cession,  "  the  object  for  which  they  were  ceded  having  been  ac 
complished  ;"  that  the  States  would  receive  their  respective  "  quotas  of  national  revenue,  oa 
a  matter  of  right,"  &c.  It  was  difficult  to  go  into  this  subject  historically,  and  not  bring  out 
the  truth — difficult  not  to  have  some  sound  reflections  upon  it,  if  it  were  touched  at  all.  We 
are  perfectly  satisfied  with  what  General  Jackson  has  proved,  and  with  his  opinion,  that 
"  the  public  lands,  as  soon  as  practicable,  should  cease  to  be  a  source  of  revenue"  to  the  Gen 
eral  Government. 

§  14.  Mr.  Van  Bur  en's  Opinion. 

When  we  can  find  this  gentleman  in  the  right  place,  we  like  to  hold  him  there,  if  possi 
ble.  In  1826,  Mr.  Van  Buren  said  :— 

"  No  man  could  render  the  country  a  greater  service,  than  he  who  should  devise  some  plan,  by 
•which  the  United  States  might  be  relieved  from  the  ownership  of  this  property"  (the  public  lands) 

118 


"  by  some  equitable  manner.  He  believed  that  if  these  lands  were  disposed  of  at  once  to  the  sev 
eral  States,  it  would  be  satisfactory  to  all." 

In  his  letter  to  Sherrod  Williams,  1836,  in  which  he  declares  his  opposition  to  the  distribu 
tion  of  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands  among  the  States,  is  the  following  remarkable  pas 
sage  : — 

"  In  respect  to  the  public  lands,  I  need  only  observe,  that  I  regard  the  public  domain  as  a  trust 
fund,  belonging  to  all  the  States,  to  be  disposed  of  for  their  common  benefit.  Ample  authority  tor  that 
purpose  is  conferred  on  Congress,  by  an  express  provision  of  the  Constitution." 

To  account  for  this  passage  in  a  document,  which,  in  other  particulars,  makes  a  decided 
set-to  against  Distribution,  it  is  proper  to  observe,  that  it  is  quoted  by  Mr.  Van  Buren  him 
self,  from  a  former  letter  to  his  constituents  in  the  State  of  New  York,  apparently  for  the  pur 
pose  of  satisfying  those  who  agree  with  him,  so  far  as  this  quotation  from  an  old  letter  of  his 
is  concerned.  Mr.  Van  Buren,  as  is  partly  suspected,  has  an  eminent  faculty  of  throwing 
out  crumbs  flavored  for  the  tastes  of  all  sorts  of  appetites. 

§  15.  Mr.  Calhouri's  Proposal. 

It  is  to  cede  all  the  public  lands  to  the  States  in  which  they  lie,  and  hold  those  States  debt 
ors  to  the  national  treasury  for  a  price,  a  little  more  than  nominal,  to  be  fixed  hy  law,  and 
suited  to  the  generosity  of  a  parent  towards  a  child.  It  assumes,  that  this  property  belongs 
to  the  nation,  and  not  to  the  States,  and  that  the  new  States  have  a  natural  right  to  their 
own  soil.  Of  course,  all  the  thirteen  original  States,  and  some  others,  would  be  cut  off  at 
once  from  their  rights,  and  from  all  benefit,  except  so  far  as  the  national  treasury  might  get 
something,  an  event  not  very  certain,  if  the  new  and  favored  States  should  take  it  in  their 
heads  to  repudiate,  or  ask  to  be  discharged.  Not  to  speak  of  the  injustice,  the  fraud  of 
such  a  measure  towards  the  States  which  fought  the  battles  of  the  Revolution,  and  which 
have  ever  been  accustomed  to  think,  that  the  public  domain  was  one  of  the  things  bought 
with  their  blood  and  treasure,  suppose  the  States  so  munificently  endowed,  at  such  vast  ex 
pense  of  the  old  States,  should  at  any  time  refuse  to  pay  the  nominal  purchase-money — 
Who  and  what  power  is  to  collect  it  ?  And  what  would  be  the  consequence  of  enforcing 
collection  ?  The  Nullifier  might  indeed  be  a  breeder  of  nullification,  and  the  feeling  left  be 
hind  by  such  a  measure  would  be  ill  calculated  to  secure  domestic  harmony. 

§  16.  Mr.  Jefferson  on  Internal  Improvement. 

Mr.  Jefferson,  in  his  annual  Message  of  1806,  after  noticing  the  rapid  liquidation  of  the 
public  debt,  and  the  prospect  of  surplus  revenue  not  far  ahead,  says  : — 

"  The  question  now  comes  forward — To  what  other  object  shall  these  surplusses"  (anticipated) 
"  be  appropriated,  and  the  whole  surplus  of  imposts,  after  the  entire  discharge  of  the  public  debt, 
and  during  those  intervals  when  the  purposes  of  war  would  not  call  for  them  ?  Shall  ire  suppress 
imposts,  and  give  that  advantage  to  foreign  over  domestic  manufactures  ?  On  a  few  articles  of  more 
general  and  more  necessary  use,  the  suppression  will  dowbtless  be  right ;  but  the  great  mass  of  the 
articles  on  which  impost  is  paid,  are  foreign  luxuries,  purchased  by  those  only  who  are  rich  enough 
to  atford  themselves  the  use  of  them.  Their  patriotism  would  certainly  prefer  its  continuance  and 
application  to  the  great  purposes  of  public  education,  roads,  rivers,  canals,  and  such  other  objects  of 
public  improvement,  as  it  may  be  thought  proper  to  add  to  the  constitutional  enumeration  of  Fed 
eral  powers.  By  these  operations,  new  channels  of  communication  will  be  opened  between  the 
States,  the  lines  of  separation  wiil  disappear,  their  interests  will  be  identified,  and  their  Union  ce 
mented  by  new  and  indissoluble  ties." 

It  will  be  seen,  that  this  plan  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  for  the  application  of  surplus  funds,  is  more 
enlarged  and  more  comprehensive,  than  has  ever  been  proposed  from  the  Executive  Chair. 
As,  in  his  opinion,  it  surpassed  the  powers  of  the  Constitution,  he  earnestly  proposed  such 
alterations  as  might  be  required  to  embrace  these  objects.  It  will  further  be  observed,  that 
Mr.  Jefferson  appears  here,  not  only  as  a  staunch  advocate  of  the  doctrine  of  protection  by 
a  tariff  of  duties,  but  makes  an  appeal  to  the  patriotism  of  those  who  pay  duties  on  luxuries 
for  that  object,  to  make  them  satisfied  with  their  continuance.  [See  Tract  No.  III.,  page  5, 
for  further  views  of  Mr.  Jefferson  on  protection.] 

§  17.  General  Jackson  on  Internal  Improvements. 

In  his  annual  Message  of  1830,  is  the  following  passage,  being  part  of  a  labored  argument 
on  the  subject : — 

"  It  may  sometimes  happen  that  the  interests  of  particular  States  would  not  be  deemed  to 
coincide  with  the  general  interest,  in  relation  to  improvements  within  such  States.  But  if  the  dan 
ger  to  be  apprehended  from  this  source  is  sufficient  to  require  it,  a  discretion  might  be  reserved  to 
Congress  to  direct  such  improvements  of  a  general  character  as  the  States  concerned  might  not  be 
disposed,  to  unite  in,  and  the  application  of  the  quotas  of  those  States,  under  the  restriction  of  confin 
ing  to  each  State  the  expenditure  of  its  appropriate  quota.  It  may,  however,  be  assumed  as  a  safe 
general  rule,  that  such  improvements  as  serve  to  increase  the  prosperity  of  the  respective  States  in 
which  they  are  made,  by  giving  new  facilities  to  trade,  and  thereby  augmenting  the  wealth  and 
comfort  ot  the  inhabitants,  constitute  the  surest  mode  of  conferring  permanent  and  substantial  ad 
vantages  upon  the  whole.  The  strength  as  well  as  the  true  glory  of  the  Confederacy  is  founded  on 
*he  prosperity  and  power  of  the  several  independent  sovereignties  of  which  it  is  composed,  and  the 

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certainty  with  which  they  can  be  brought  into  successful  active  co-operation  through  the  agency 
of  the  Federal  Government." 

Nothing  can  be  more  manifest,  from  this  and  what  we  have  before  quoted,  than,  that  Gen 
eral  Jackson  was  a  Land-Distribution  and  Internal  Improvement  man  "  at  heart ;"  but  Mr. 
Clay  had  taken  the  lead,  and  General  Jackson  was  not  a  man  tofolloiv.  He  wanted  to  come 
at  the  same  ends,  by  different  routes  ;  or  he  would  follow  up  an  endless  labyrinth,  instead  of 
the  open  and  public  highway.  That  he  favored  Internal  improvement  and  Distribution,  no 
one  can  doubt.  The  above-cited  passage,  and  other  things  of  the  kind  in  his  messages,  to 
gether  with  his  almost  recognition  of  the  rights  of  the  States  in  the  public  domain,  as  before 
shown,  in  our  opinion,  had  more  influence  in  securing  his  second  election,  than  has  usually 
been  supposed.  These  two  great  objects  have  ever  been  popular,  \vhen  put  to  a  fair  and 
unembarrassed  issue.  Internal  Improvement  was  arrested  only  by  the  regal  power  of  the 
Constitution,  THE  VETO,  when  the  voice  of  the  nation,  of  the  people,  of  the  democracy,  was 
in  its  favor ;  and  the  Distribution  policy  has  never  been  put  to  the  'test  in  the  democratic 
branch  of  the  Government,  that  is,  in  Congress,  but  that  a  large  majority  has  uniformly  sus 
tained  it.  If  we  are  rightly  informed,  the  Legislatures  of  twenty-two,  out  of  twenty-six  States, 
have  formally  addressed  Congress,  or  otherwise  instituted  action,  in  favor  of  it.  Kingly 
power  alone,  in  defiance  of  the  popular  will,  has  obstructed  these  great  measures,  for  the 
largest  part  of  one  entire  generation. 

§  18.  The  Extent  and  Value  of  the  Public  Domain. 

The  public  lands  unsold  on  the  31st  of  October,  1843,  as  certified  by  the  Commissioner  of 
the  General  Land  Office,  were  1.042,731,765  acres,  which,  at  the  minimum  price  fixed  by 
law,  would  amount  to  1,303,414,706  (one  billion,  three  hundred  and  three  millions.,  four 
hundred  and  fourteen  thousand^  seven  hundred  and  six  dollars.')  [See  Ho.  Doc.  296,  3d  sess., 
27th  Cong.,  page  238.] 

§  19.  Apportionment  of  the  Value  of  the  Public  Lands  to  the  States  and  Territories, 

estimated  according  to  the  present  Federal  Representation. 

If  we  apportion  the  above  sum  of  $1,303,414,706,  the  estimated  value  of  the  public  lands, 
to  the  States  and  Territories,  according  to  their  right  of  representation  in  Congress,  allowing 
one  representative  to  the  District  of  Columbia,  the  respective  amounts  which  each  State 
and  Territory  would  be  entitled  to,  will  be  as  follows  : — 


Maine  will  be  entitled  to $42,045,635 

New  Hampshire 28,030,423 

Massachusetts 56,060,847 

Rhode  Island 18,686,949 

Connecticut 28,030,423 

Vermont 28,030,423 

New  York 168,182,542 

New  Jersey • 32,702,161 

Pennsylvania 121,465,169 

Delaware 14,015,211 

Maryland 37,373,898 

Virginia 79,419,534 

North  Carolina 51,389,110 

South  Carolina 42,045,635 

Georgia 46,717,372 


Kentucky $56,060,847 

Tennessee 60,732,584 

Ohio 107,449,957 

Louisiana 28,030,423 

Indiana .". .   56,060,847 

Mississippi 28,030,423 

Illinois 42,045,635 

Alabama 42,045,635 

Missouri 32,702,161 

Arkansas 14,015,211 

Michigan 23,358,686 

Florida  Territory 4,671,737 

Wisconsin    «       4,671,737 

Iowa  «       4,671,737 

District  of  Columbia 4,67 1,734 


The  cents  and  smaller  fractions  are  dropped  in  this  copy,  which  would  make  the  footing  a 
trifle  less  than  the  aggregate  from  which  the  apportionment  is  made. 

§  20.  Average  Annual  Proceeds  of  the  Land  Sales. 

The  average  annual  and  net  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands,  from  1830  to  1840, 
inclusive,  eleven  years,  were  $6,964,459,  those  of  the  whole  period  being  $76,609,059  ;  as 
appears  from  the  Treasury  accounts.  In  the  former  part  of  this  period,  the  increase  of 
the  sales  was  gradual,  and  may  be  considered  healthful.  About  the  middle  of  it,  they  rose 
to  an  unprecedented  and  unnatural  amount,  the  proceeds  of  1835  being  $14,757,600,  and 
those  of  1836,  $24,641,979,  from  which  time  they  gradually  fell  off,  till,  in  1840,  they  had 
sunk  to  $3,292,220,  having  started,  in  1830,  at  $2,329,356.  The  disastrous  history  of  the 
twelve  years  Destructive  Dynasty,  which  first  inflated  and  then  destroyed  general  credit,  will 
account  for  this.  As  the  land  sales  from  1828  to  1831  were  considered  moderate,  showing 
an  average  annual  increase  of  23  per  cent.,  as  appears  by  Mr.  Clay's  report  to  the  Senate  in 
1832,  that  is,  more  than  doubling  every  five  years,  it  may  perhaps  be  assumed  that  the  average 
annual  proceeds,  from  1830  to  1840,  as  above  stated,  are  not  very  much,  if  at  all,  in  excess 
c£  a  natural  and  prosperous  state  of  things,  at  the  present  period  of  our  history,  under  a  good 

120 


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administration  of  the  Government.  Doubling  the  income  every  five  years  on  $2,329,356, 
which  were  the  net  proceeds  of  1830,  those  of  1840  would  have  been  $9,317,424.  As  the 
annual  sales  are  now  gradually  increasing  again,  it  can  hardly  be  many  years,  if  the  country 
Should  recover  its  fair  condition  of  prosperity,  before  the  proceeds  from  sales  of  the  public 
lands  will  rise  to  ten  millions  a  year.  Be  it  more  or  less,  five,  or  seven,  or  ten  millions,  it  can 
not  fail  to  be  a  very  handsome  and  convenient  sum,  annually  increasing,  to  be  distributed 
among  the  States,  according  to  their  Federal  representation.  Assuming  either  of  these,  or 
any  other  given  amount  of  annual  proceeds,  with  a  table  showing  the  representation  in 
Congress,  to  which  each  state  is  entitled,  Senators  included,  it  will  be  easy  for  any  person  to 
work  out  the  respective  annual  distributions  among  the  States,  if  the  General  Government 
Shall  finally  award  to  them  their  just  claims.  When  the  proceeds  shall  be  eight  millions  a 
year,  the  distribution  for  such  year  will  be  as  follows  : — 

Maine $257,706  [  Kentucky $344,086 

New  Hampshire 172,040    Tennessee 372,759 


Massachusetts . ..  344,086 

Rhode  Island 1 18,279 

Connecticut 172,040 

Vermont 172,040 

New  York 1,032,258 

New  Jersey 200,716 

Pennsylvania 741,936 

Delaware. 86,021 

Maryland 229,356 

Virginia.. , 487,455 

North  Carolina 315,412 

South  Carolina 257,706 

Georgia 286,738 


Ohio 659,498 

Louisiana 172,040 

Indiana 344,086 

Mississippi 172,040 

Illinois 257,706 

Alabama 257,706 

Missouri 200,716 

Arkansas 86,021 

Michigan 143,369 

Florida 28,673 

Wisconsin 28,673 

Iowa 28,673 

District  of  Columbia 28,673 


When  the  annual  proceeds  shall  rise  to  sixteen  millions — they  have  been  over  twenty- 
four  millions — double  the  above  apportionments  respectively,  and  they  will  be  the  quotas  of 
distribution. 

§"21.  Debts  of  the  States. 

In  a  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  Congress,  1842,  compiled  from  official 
returns  he  had  been  instructed  to  invite,  we  have  the  following  statement : — 


Maine  (indebted) $  1 ,734,86 1 

Massachusetts 5,424,137 

Pennsylvania  . .- 36,336,044 

New  York 21,797,267 

Maryland 15,214,761 

Virginia 6,994,307 

South  Carolina 5,691,234 

Georgia .' 1,309,750 

Alabama 15,400,060 

Louisiana 23,985,000 

Mississippi 7,000,000 

Arkansas 2,676,000 


Florida $4,000,000 

Tennessee 3,189,166 

Kentucky 3,085,500 

Michigan 5,611,000 

Ohio 10,924,123 

Indiana 12,751,000 

Illinois 13,527,292 

Missouri 842,261 

District  of  Columbia 1,316,030 

To  these  may  be  added, 
North  Carolina 1,050,000 


The  sum  of  these  debts  is  a  small  fraction  less  than  two  hundred  millions.  In  the  lapse  of 
two  years  some  of  them  have  been  increased,  some  diminished,  and  others  more  correctly 
ascertained ;  but  the  sum  total  is  supposed  not  to  vary  much  from  $200,000,000.  Most  of 
them  having  been  contracted  for  internal  improvements,  there  is  of  course,  to  some  extent,  a 
quid  pro  quo  in  the  hands  of  these  States.  The  public  works  of  the  State  of  New  York,  for 
example,  are  much  more  than  a  balance  for  her  indebtedness,  and  abundantly  capable  of 
liquidating  the  debt.  Those  of  Pennsylvania  will  pay  a  part  of  the  interest,  and  several  of 
the  States  are  able,  not  only  to  provide  for  the  interest,  but  to  manage  the  principal,  though 
in  most  cases  burdensome,  while  others  do  not,  and  a  few  can  not  pay  even  the  interest. 
The  spectacle,  as  a  whole,  presents  a  great  and  difficult  political  problem,  in  the  question, 
How  are  these  debts  to  be  got  rid  of?  The  country  can  never  be  restored  to  a  prosperous 
•Edition  till  this  problem  is  solved. 

§  22.  Who  plunged  the  indebted  States  into  these  Difficulties  ? 

We  aver  that  it  was  done,  and  all  done,  by  the  action  of  the  General  Government.  1.  By 
withholding  from  them  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands  since  they  became  due,  on  the  con 
ditions  of  the  trust.  In  House  Document  296,  3d  session,  27th  Congress,  pages  475  and 
476,  it  is  shown,  from  the  books  of  the  General  Land  Office,  that  the  amount  of  proceeds 

121 


10 

due  tc  the  States,  Sept.  30,  1840,  on  account  of  the  public  lands,  in  the  faithful  execution 
of  the  trust,  was  $142,018,766.  This  alone,  distributed  according  to  Federal  representation, 
would  have  rescued  the  indebted  States  from  all  their  embarrassments.  2.  By  instability 
of  national  policy,  legislation,  and  government.  It  can  not  be  denied  that  General  Jackson 
was  in  favor  of  internal  improvements,  and  that  he  proposed  and  recommended  to  supply  ths 
States  with  funds  out  of  the  national  Treasury  for  that  object.  See  the  passage  we  have 
already  cited  from  his  Message  of  1830,  and  other  like  things  in  his  official  documents. 
Observe  his  order  to  loan  the  Deposites.  The  announced  policy  of  the  Government  at  that 
time,  as  well  as  its  acts,  stimulated  credit  and  enterprise  in  the  States  and  everywhere.  The 
projects  of  the  States  for  internal  improvement,  were  first  suggested  and  prompted,  and  were 
fully  authorized,  by  the  General  Government,  and  that  Government  proposed  to  supply  the 
funds.  Contemporaneously,  Senator  Wright  said  in  his  place,  that  "  he  was  not  afraid  to 
recommend  such  an  investment  of  the  national  funds,  as  the  States  iixndd  issue  as  many  bonds 
as  the  Government  might  choose  to  buy."  Verily,  was  not  all  this  prompting,  and  a  sufficient 
warrant  ?  The  States,  instead  of  acting  rashly,  only  conformed  to  the  leadings  of  the  General 
Government.  But,  as  we  all  know,  by  sad  experience,  the  General  Government  did  not 
persevere  in  this  policy,  but,  after  having  seduced  the  States  into  these  projects  and  great 
expenditures,  and  tempted  the  whole  country  to  extravagant  enterprise,  it  turned  short  about, 
upset  the  States,  upset  the  nation,  upset  everything  !  Who,  then,  we  ask,  is  responsible  for 
this  wide-spread  ruin,  these  frightful  and  long-protracted  calamities  of  a  great  nation  ? 

In  coincidence  with  these  suggestions,  observe  the  history  of  the  State  debts.  In  1830, 
when  President  Jackson  so  fully  propounded  his  scheme  of  internal  improvement  by  setting 
the  States  to  work,  and  supplying  them  with  funds  out  of  the  national  Treasury,  the  whole 
amount  of  the  State  debts  was  only  $6,976,689 ;  while  the  increase  from  1830  to  1840,  under 
the  stimulus  of  these  encouragements,  amounted  to  $178,409,084!  of  which  $87,366,010 
took  place  in  the  defaulting  States.  [House  Doc.  296,  3d  sess.,  27th  Cong.,  page  47.] 

§  23.   What,  therefore,  is  due  to  the  States. 

We  will  not  pretend  to  say  what  else  ought  to  be  done  in  such  a  case,  but  we  think  the 
States,  and  the  people  of  the  States,  will  expect  and  require  that  the  original  covenant 
between  the  States  and  the  United  States,  respecting  the  public  lands,  should  now  be  "faith 
fully  and  bona  fide"  executed.  So  zealous,  so  intent,  so  emphatic,  were  the  parties  of  one 
part,  in  respect  to  the  importance  and  sacredness  of  this  compact,  that  they  were  not  conteat 
with  the  qualifying  word  "faithfully"  to  express  its  obligations,  but  they  put  in  the  still 
stronger  words,  "  bona  fide"  in  good  faith.  If  it  were  possible  for  any  one  to  doubt  the 
character  of  this  instrument  as  a  TRUST,  by  the  terms  in  which  it  is  constructed,  we  have 
the  opinion  of  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States",  John  Marshall,  before  cited,  acting  in 
his  high  judicial  capacity,  himself  bearing  testimony  to  its  very  special  importance  as  such. 
Since,  then,  the  case  is  so ;  since  the  States,  in  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  resigned 
forever  their  power  over  revenue  by  imposts  ;  since  they  acquired  their  title  to  the  publie 
domain  by  their  own  blood  and  treasure,  while  acting  as  independent  sovereignties,  under 
the  Articles  of  Confederation  ;  since,  for  purposes  of  harmony  and  general  good,  and  in  all 
good  faith,  they  put  this  great  estate  in  the  hands  of  a  common  TRUSTEE,  composed  of  repre 
sentatives  from  themselves,  acting  under  their  authority ;  since  the  conditions  of  that  trust, 
in  giving  its  avails  another  direction  than  to  the  hands  of  the  original  parties,  have  long 
since  been  fulfilled,  imposing  the  duty  of  rendering  the  proceeds  of  the  property  to  its  rightful 
owners  ;  since  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  by  its  own  action,  invited  the  States  into 
expensive  projects  of  internal  improvement,  more  beneficial  to  the  Union  than  to  the  States 
themselves,  promising  the  States,  or  giving  them  good  reason  to  expect,  the  aid  of  the  public 
funds,  it  can  not  be  deemed  unreasonable,  that  the  States  should  require  and  demand  what  is 
their  own,  to  help  themselves  out  of  the  difficulties  in  which  the  General  Government  has 
involved  them  by  a  violation  of  its  faith.  No  favor  is  asked.  It  is  simple  JUSTICE. 

. 
§  24.   The  Prospect  of  a  Surplus  National  Revenue. 

The  Tariff  of  1842  is  doing  wonders  for  us,  and  under  the  present  rate  of  its  operation  in 
the  increased  production  of  revenue,  we  shall  soon  have  another  surplus  in  the  national 
Treasury.  The  annual  revenue  is  more  than  doubled  by  this  measure.  The  protection 
given  to  our  labor,  industry,  and  productions,  has  relieved  the  country  suddenly,  and  restored 
it  to  a  condition  of  comparative  prosperity,  though  it  will  take  years,  under  this  same  bene 
ficent  ACT,  to  get  back  to  the  place  from  which  we  were  cast  down  by  the  Destructive 
Dynasty. 

Suppose,  then,  that  we  go  on  under  the  present  Tariff,  it  would  not  be  strange,  with  a 
realization  of  present  prospects,  if,  in  five  years,  we  should  be  able  to  spare  from  the  na 
tional  Treasury  to  the  States,  from  imposts  alone,  twice  as  much  as  was  voted  in  1836.  The 
amount  of  that,  as  determined  by  the  Act,  though  it  was  not  all  realized,  was  $37,468,850. 

122 


11 

Double  of  this  would  be  $74,937,718.  We  take  this  sum,  merely  because  it  is  more  conve 
nient  to  make  out  an  apportionment,  by  doubling  one  already  made  to  our  hand  for  the  half 
of  it.  To  avail  ourselves  of  this,  however,  we  are  forced  to  assume,  as  a  rule  of  distribution, 
the  Electoral  Colleges  of  the  period  from  1830  to  1840.  The  distribution,  by  this  rule,  would 
be  as  follows  : — 


Maine $2,548,902 

New  Hampshire 1,784,230 

Massachusetts 3,568,462 

Rhode  Island 1,019,560 

Vermont 1,784,230 

Connecticut 2,039,120 


South  Carolina $2,803,792 

Georgia 2,803,792 

Alabama 1,784,230 

Mississippi 1,019,560 

Louisiana 1,274,450 

Missouri 1,019,560 


New  York 10,705,388    Kentucky. 3,823,352 

New  Jersey 2,039,120    Tennessee 3,823,352 


Pennsylvania 7,646,706 

Delaware 764,670 

Maryland 2,548,902 


Ohio 5,352,694 

Indiana 2,294,010 

Illinois 1,274,450 


Virginia. 5,862,474  |  Arkansas 764,670 

North  Carolina 3,823,352  j  Michigan  . . .' . 764,670 

Adopting  the  present  Federal  representation  as  the  rule  of  distribution,  this  apportionment 
would  vary  somewhat.  The  quotas  of  Pennsylvania,  and  of  some  other  States,  would  be 
increased,  some  would  be  diminished,  and  the  relative  proportions  in  a  slight  degree  changed. 
It  will  be  obvious,  that  the  Territories  should  come  in  for  a  share.  The  object  of  this 
exhibit  is  merely  to  give  a  notion  of  something  like  what  may  be  reasonably  expected,  from 
time  to  time,  as  occasion  may  require,  provided  we  can  once  obtain  a  good  government, 
maintain  a  suitable  Tariff,  and  fully  restore  the  prosperity  of  the  country.  This  is  no 
dream,  but  founded  on  the  history  of  the  past.  Under  a  Tariff  adequate  to  a  fair  protection 
of  the  interests  of  the  country — fair  as  doing  relative  as  well  as  positive  justice — we  could  not 
fail  soon  to  have  a  large  annual  surplus  from  the  impost  revenue  and  land  fund,  sufficient  to 
answer  all  the  purposes  of  the  present  public  debt,  if  it  be  proper  to  call  the  State  debts 
public.  The  reasons  why  these  debts  are  proper  to  be  considered  in  our  national  policy, 
are,  first,  because  they  affect  our  national  interests,  and  can  not  be  separated  from  them ; 
next,  because  the  General  Government  is  bound  by  compact,  as  Trustee,  to  administer  the 
estate  of  the  public  lands  for  the  "  sole  use  and  benefit  of  the  States,  faithfully  and  bona 
fide,"  since  the  lands  are  "relieved,"  as  General  Jackson  says,  "from  the  original  pledge;" 
thirdly,  because  many  of  the  States  require  the  relief  which  such  an  administration  of  the 
lands  would  give  them ;  fourthly,  because  all  the  States  would  be  benefited ;  and,  fifthly, 
because  the  United  States  would  be  equally  benefited.  The  States,  even  the  most  indebted, 
have  no  occasion  to  ask  what  is  not  due  to  them. 

It  is  quite  immaterial,  however,  whether  the  distribution  be  made  on  Mr.  Jefferson's  and 
General  Jackson's  principle  of  expediency,  for  national  objects,  or  as  a  debt  due  the  States 
on  account  of  public  lands.  We  have  seen  there  is  a  balance  yet  behind  of  one  hundred  and 
forty-two  millions,  which,  together  with  those  annually  accruing,  will  abundantly  answer  all 
the  necessities  of  the  States. 

§  25.  The  great  National  Objects  to  be  promoted  by  Distribution. 
Jefferson  and  Jackson,  in  the  documents  already  referred  to,  have  reasoned  this  matter  out 
so  well,  that  little  is  left  for  others  to  do.  It  is  true  they  did  not  base  their  argument  so 
much  on  the  right  of  the  States  to  the  proceeds  of  the  public  domain,  as  on  the  expediency  of 
the  measure  they  proposed  for  great  national  objects;  and  professing  to  have  scruples,  and 
to  respect  the  scruples  of  others,  on  the  Constitutional  question  of  Internal  improvements, 
on  such  a  large  scale,  by  the  General  Government,  they  proposed  to  travel  round  this  diffi 
culty,  and  accomplish  the  same  great  and  important  end — Jefferson,  by  amending  the  Con 
stitution,  and  Jackeon  by  setting  the  States  to  work,  and  endowing  them  with  the  surplus 
funds  of  the  national  Treasury  for  that  object.  Now,  it  happens,  that  much  of  this  work  is 
already  done  by  the  indebted  States,  which  has  been  the  occasion  of  their  debts.  Acknowl 
edge  their  claim  to  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands,  in  the  past  and  in  the  future,  and  let 
them  be  distributed,  and  these  debts  will  be  provided  for,  while  the  non-indebted  States  will 
doubtless  use  their  respective  quotas,  for  the  most  part,  in  promoting  the  same  great  national 
objects.  They  have  only  to  follow  out  the  hints  given  jn  General  Jackson's  Message  of 
1830.  The  work  is  there  projected.  And  they  would  most  naturally  do  it ;  for  as  General 
Jackson  says  :  It  may  be  safely  assumed,  that  the  public  works  which  are  best  for  the  States, 
will  be  best  for  the  Union. 

§  26.  The  probable  Effect  of  Distribution  on  Public  Credit. 

The  whole  world  is  watching  to  see,  whether  the  General  Government  will  relieve  the 
fctates,  and  nothing  is  required  but  to  give  the  States  their  OWN.  As  things  now  are,  as  they 

123 


12 

ireTe  fixed  by  the  twelve  years*  Destructive  Dynasty,  and  finally  sealed  by  the  present  Chief 
Magistrate,  in  his  Veto  on  the  first  Tariff  bill  of  1841,  notwithstanding  that  he  strongly 
recommended  Distribution  in  his  message,  the  indebted  States  are  prostrate,  and  some  of 
them  can  neArer  rise  again,  without  help  from  some  quarter.  It  is  known  y.  that  such  is  their 
helpless  condition.  Nobody  expects  they  will  ever  be  able  to  pay,  without  the  proceeds  of 
the  public  lands.  But  secure  to  them  this  RIGHT,  of  which  they  have  so  long  been  wrong 
fully  deprived,  and  the  VERY  NEXT  HOUR  their  credit  would  spring  up  from  the  grave,  in  which 
it  has  been  rotting,  and  the  world,  which  has  assumed  to  rebuke  and  reproach  them,  as  is 
always  the  fate  of  insolvent  debtors,  would  take  them  again  to  the  arms  of  its  confidence  and 
affection. 

We  know  that  the  p/esent  proceeds  of  the  public  lands  will  not  be  a  full  relief,  "  per  se," 
to  the  States  which  are  most  indebted ;  but  it  will  be  some  help,  and  that  will  be  augmenting 
every  year.  Their  greatest  need,  in  the  present  juncture,  is  a  foundation  and  warrant  of 
credit.  -Settle  the  land  question,  as  justice  requires,  ordain  a  distribution  of  the  annual  pro 
ceeds  among  the  States,  according  to  their  Federal  representation,  fix  it  so  that  the  public, 
the  world,  may  rely  upon  it,  as  an  arrangement  not  to  be  disturbed,  and  it  is  a  sufficient 
foundation  for  all  the  credit  that  is  required,  and  many  times  more.  Not  only  so,  but  it 
would  probably  enable  the  indebted  States  to  fund  their  obligations,  so  far  as  occasion  should 
require,  for  one  half  the  interest  they  are  now  charged.  The  indebted  States,  the  other 
States,  the  whole  Union,  would  spring  to  their  feet  again,  go  to  work  with  the  joy  of  hope, 
and  the  world  would  smile  on  our  prosperity,  and  confide  in  it. 

§  27.  There  is  now  no  Apology  for  not  doing  it. 

The  Tariff  of  1842  is  pouring  into  the  national  Treasury  more  money  than  is  wanted,  and 
if  it  is  permitted  to  continue,  it  will  not  be  long,  so  far  as  the  ordinary  expenditures  of  the 
Government  are  concerned,  before  we  shall  have  a  surplus  in  the  Treasury.  That  will  not 
"be  a  bad  time  to  begin  to  pay  the  one  hundred  and  forty-two  millions  due  to  the  States,  before 
noticed,  as  a  balance  accrued  on  account  of  the  public  lands.  Then  the  indebted  States 
might  pay  up,  sustain  and  perfect  their  public  works,  and  the  non-indebted  States  might  cross 
their  territories  with  canals  and  railroads,  as  might  be  judged  expedient.  The  remarks  of 
General  Jackson,  as  cited  by  us,  page  7,  section  17,  are  pertinent  to  this  point.  .General 
Jackson  was  there  proposing  to  appropriate  funds  out  of  the  national  Treasury  for  this 
object,  and  to  constitute  the  States  as  agents  to  carry  the  plan  into  effect.  It  was  very 
well  said.  We  are  glad  to  embrace  such  reasoning,  coming  from  such  a  quarter,  be 
lieving,  that  it  is  as  well  entitled  to  have  weight  with  us,  as  with  the  somewhat  warmer 
and  more  unqualified  friends  of  General  Jackson.  On  this  platform,  we  would  most  heart 
ily  co-operate  with  those,  who  claim  to  be  «  State-Rights  Men,"  and  who  have  wasted  as 
much  declamation  upon  this  topic,  as  they  have  on  "Democracy,"  as  if  born  to  the 
name,  at  the  same  time  that  they  have  been  doing  all  they  could  to  destroy  the  States,  as  to 
their  power  and  independence,  and  to  build  up  and  fortify  a  regal  power  in  the  White  House, 
at  the  expense  and  with  the  sacrifice  of  true  republicanism.  WE  go  for  "  State-Rights,"  in 
the  rights  of  the  States,  and  that  is  what  we  understand  by  it.  We  go  for  the  practical,  not 
for  the  abstract — for  the  real,  not  for  the  visionary.  He  who  denies  to  the  States  the  right 
to  the  proceeds  of  the  public  domain,  we  will  never  allow  to  be  a  "State-Rights"  man.  It  is 
a  contradiction  in  terms.  The  whole  and  inevitable  tendency  of  the  Anti-Distribution  policy, 
is,  to  concentrate  power,  to  cripple  the  States,  and  to  fortify  the  Federal  arm  in  acts  of  oppres- 
Bion  and  violence.  This  is  one  form  of  Federalism,  and  such  are  FEDERALISTS.  [See  Tract 
No.  VJ.,  on  Democracy.] 

§  28.  The  Effect  of  Distribution  on  the  Sales. 

We  assume,  after  what  has  been  said,  that  Distribution  is  indispensable  to  the  complete 
restoration  of  State  and  national  prosperity.  The  indebted  States  can  never  rise  without  it ; 
the  others  will  feel  the  effect  of  the  embarrassment  or  bankruptcy  of  their  neighbors  ;  and 
the  States,  in  this  position,  will  hang  like  a  mill-stone  on  the  neck  of  the  United  States.  Con 
sequently,  this  state  of  things,  so  long  as  it  lasts,  will  be  a  great  check  to  that  spirit  of  en 
terprise,  which  is  required  for  the  purchase  and  occupancy  of  the  vacant  lands.  In  addition 
to  this,  and  a  greater  obstacle  still,  the  more  desirable  unoccupied  lands  lie  in  States  most 
oppressed  with  debt,  and  few  people  will  go  where  they  will  be  liable  to  such  a  heavy  bur 
den  of  taxation.  But  take  away  these  obstacles  by  Distribution,  and  the  sales  will  increase 
•with  great  rapidity,  with  the  revival  of  general  credit,  and  the  credit  of  the  States  where  the 
unoccupied  lands  are  situated.  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Michigan,  must  inevitably  remain  very 
nearly  in  statu  quo,  while  unrelieved  by  Distribution ;  but  give  them  this,  and  they  would 
spring  forward  in  a  new  and  rapid  career  at  once.  The  same  may  be  said  of  other  western 
States,  and  of  the  Territories.  The  consequence  of  this  would  be  a  rapid  increase  of  the 
proceeds  of  the  sales,  and  of  the  benefits  to  the  States  to  be  derived  therefrom. 

124 


13 

§  29.   The  effect  of  Non-Distribution  on  Legislation, 

So  long  as  reliance  is  placed  on  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands  as  a  part  of  the  national 
revenue,  so  long  will  the  Tariff  regulations  be  fluctuating,  than  which,  a  greater  commercial 
evil  could  scarcely  be  entailed  on  the  country.  The  annual  net  proceeds  from  the  sale  of 
public  lands,  between  1830  and  1840,  ranged  from  three  millions  to  twenty-four  millions.  The 
operation  of  the  Tariff  of  1842,  shows,  that  the  proceeds  of  the  lands  will  not  be  wanted  by 
the  General  Government,  so  long  as  this  Tariff  lasts,  and  that  there  will  soon  be  a  surplus 
in  the  Treasury  from  the  Tariff  alone.  Distribution,  therefore,  is  now  demanded,  as  well 
for  the  STABILITY  of  our  Tariff  regulations,  as  for  reasons  before  given. 

§  30.   The  Attempt  to  Repeal  the  Distribution  Act  0/1841. 

It  is  true,  that  Mr.  Tyler's  Veto  of  the  first  Tariff  bill  of  1841,  rendered  that  Act  inopera 
tive  for  the  present.  Nevertheless,  it  remained  a  law,  and  only  required  the  repeal  of  the 
restrictive  clause,  to  give  it  immediate,  permanent,  and  full  effect,  for  five  years,  except  in 
case  of  war ;  and  the  effect  of  this  exception  would  tend  very  much  to  prevent  war.  But 
the  wanton  attack,  made  by  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  present  (28th)  Congress,  on 
the  Distribution  law  of  1841,  and  t*e  fury  with  which  they  carried  the  repeal  bill  through 
that  body  the  very  day  it  was  reported,  by  a  strong  party  vote,  under  the  previous  question, 
evinces  the  deadly  hostility  of  that  party  to  such  a  measure,  and  their  determination,  that  it 
shall  never  stand  or  be  a  law.  Though  no  observing  man  doubted  their  sentiments  before, 
yet  this  decided  action  shows  the  country  what  may  be  expected  from  that  party  on  Distri 
bution,  as  well  as  on  the  Tariff,  both  of  which  they  are  resolved  to  crush. 

§.31*.   The  Purchased  Lands. 

It  is  true,  that  all  the  territories  falling  under  the  purchases  of  Louisiana  and  the  Flori- 
das,  have  been  acquired  as  the  property  of  the  United  States  in  their  federal  capacity.  The 
principles  of  Mr.  Jefferson  and  General  Jackson,  however,  as  recognised  in  these  pages,  are 
sufficiently  broad  and  comprehensive,  if  they  should  be  approved,  to  answer  all  the  purposes 
of  the  States,  in  the  existence  of  surplus  funds  in  the  national  Treasury,  which  is  sure  to  re 
sult  from  a  good  Government,  except  as  it  may  be  interrupted  by  the  expenses  of  war.  It 
will  only  be  necessary  to  apply  that  power  of  the  Constitution,  Article  IV.,  Sec.  3,  which  Mr. 
Van  Buren,  in  his  letter  to  Sherrod  Williams,  calls  "  an  express  provision," — "  ample  author 
ity"  and  which  reads  as  follows  : — "  Congress  shall  have  power  to  dispose  of,  and  make  ail 
needful  rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory,  or  other  property,  belonging  to  the 
United  States,"  &c. 

§  32.  Alleged  or  Supposed  Conflicting  Interests  of  New  States  with  Old  States. 

It  is  fortunate  that  the  time  is  nearly,  if  not  quite  gone  by,  when  some  effect  could  be 
produced  by  telling  the  new  States,  "  Claim  the  public  lands  in  your  own  limits,  and  you  can. 
get  them."  This,  certainly,  could  not  easily  be  shown  to  be  a  very  fumest  recommendation. 
Since,  however,  this  seductive  bait  was  thrown  out  in  the  "  counter  report"  to  the  Senate, 
on  the  public  lands,  in  1832,  and  industriously  propagated  in  other  forms,  it  has  been  discov 
ered  by  the  new  States,  that  a  joint  interest  with  all  the  other  States,  in  a  public  domain  of 
more  than  a  BILLION  of  acres,  is  a  richer  inheritance  than  all  they  can  find  of  public  lands 
in  their  own  bounds.  Possibly,  there  may  be  two  or  three  States  that  would  like  to  have  all 
those  parts  of  the  public  domain  which  lie  in  their  respective  jurisdictions ;  but  we  doubt, 
whether  any  would  be  very  fierce  for  it,  when,  by  seizing  upon  or  accepting  it,  they  sacrifice 
all  right  and  claim  in  the  public  lands  exterior  to  themselves.  They  know,  that  the  General 
Government  has  been  generous  to  them,  in  its  grants  and  bonuses  for  a  variety  of  objects 
and  considerations,  and  they  have  ceased  to  be  influenced  by  another  suggestion  thrown  out 
in  the  "counter  report"  of  1832,  viz  :  that  all  the  money  paid  for  public  lands  is  drawn  from 
the  States  in  which  the  purchased  territory  lies.  It  is  seen,  that  the  money,  so  applied,  comes 
from  other  quarters,  does  not  belong  to  the  new  States,  and  was  never  there,  till  carried  by 
immigrants,  and  a  part  of  it  is  disbursed  on  the  spot  by  the  expenses  of  the  land  offices. 
There  is  an  acquisition  in  all  such  cases  to  the  wealth  of  the  new  States,  by  the  introduction 
of  additional  power  to  produce  it ;  but  nothing  belonging  there  is  taken  away.  Immigrants 
also,  for  the  most  part,  have  money  left,  after  paying  for  their  lands.  The  older  States  may 
be  injured  by  the  loss  of  their  inhabitants  and  labor  power,  and  to  some  extent  are  so.  The 
money,  of  course,  is  drawn  from  those  States  which  the  immigrants  came  from,  and  is  scat 
tered  over  the  Union.  In  1832,  it  was  stated,  in  a  report  to  the  Senate,  that  the  greatest 
emigration  was  from  the  States  of  Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee.  The  fear  of  collision., 
therefore,  between  the  new  States  and  the  old,  on  this  account,  has  chiefly  subsided,  as  ev 
ery  new  State  almost  instantly  becomes  an  old  one,  as  to  its  interest  in  the  public  domain. 

Mr.  Clay,  in  his  speech  on  the  public  lands,  1832,  after  having  alluded  to  the  concessions 
of  the  new  States  as  to  the  rights  of  all  the  States  over  the  public  domain,  by  the  action  of  the 
former  in  various  modes,  says  : — "  The  existence  of  the  new  States  is  a  falsehood,  or  the  right 

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of  all  the  States  to  the  public  domain  is  an  undeniable  truth.  They"  (the  new  States)  "  have 
no  more  right  to  the  public  lands  within  their  particular  jurisdiction,  than  other  States  have 
to  the  mint,  the  forts  and  arsenals,  or  public  ships  within  theirs,  or  than  the  people  of  the 
District  of  Columbia  have  to  this  magnificent  Capitol,  in  whose  splendid  halls  we  now  de 
liberate." 

Air.  Clay  concludes  this  speech  as  follows  : — "  Among  the  ties  which  bind  us  together,  the 
public  domain  merits  high  consideration.  And  if  we  appropriate,  for  a  limited  time,  the  pro 
ceeds  of  that  great  resource,  among  the  several  States,  for  the  important  objects  which  have 
been  enumerated,  a  new  and  powerful  bond  of  affection  and  of  interest  will  be  added.  The 
States  will  feel  and  recognise  the  operation  of  the  General  Government,  not  merely  in  power 
and  burdens,  but  in  benefactions  and  blessings.  And  the  General  Government  in  its  turn, 
will  feel,  from  the  expenditure  of  the  money  which  it  dispenses  to  the  States,  the  benefits  of 
moral  and  intellectual  improvement  of  the  people,  of  greater  facility  in  social  and  commercial 
intercourse,  and  of  the  purification  of  the  population  of  our  country,  themselves  the  best  pa 
rental  sources  of  national  character,  national  union,  and  national  greatness.  Whatever  may 
be  the  fate  of  the  particular  proposition  now  under  consideration,  I  sincerely  hope  that  the 
attention  of  the  nation  may  be  attracted  to  this  most  interesting  subject ;  that  it  may  justly 
appreciate  the  value  of  this  immense  national  property;  and  that,  preserving  the  regulation 
of  it  by  the  will  of  the  whole,  for  the  advantage  of  the  whole,  it  may  be  transmitted,  as  a 
sacred  and  inestimable  succession,  to  posterity,  for  its  benefit  and  blessing  for  ages  to  come.'7 

§  33.  Federal  Power  as  opposed  to  State  Eights. 

It  will  be  seen,  that,  never,  in  the  history  of  this  country,  has  so  flagrant  a  violation  of  the 
rights  of  the  States  been  planned  and  systematically  carried  on,  as  in  the  attempt  of  the  Fed 
eral  Government,  for  a  long  course  of  years,  to  rob  the  States  of  their  interest  in  the  public 
lands.  Every  possible  artifice  to  conceal  the  truth,  or  to  obscure,  mystify,  and  cloud  what 
could  not  be  concealed,  and  every  muscle  of  the  Federal  arm,  has  been  employed  to  defraud 
the  original  parties  that  created  this  republic,  of  the  rich  inheritance  which  they  purchased 
with  their  blood  and  treasure  :  as  if  it  were  not  enough  for  the  States  to  give  up  the  right 
of  raising  revenue  by  imposts,  but  advantage  is  taken  of  a  sacred  trust,  to  deprive  them  of 
their  last  and  only  heritage  for  sustaining  their  political  powers.  Prompted  by  the  Federal 
authorities,  they  have  done  the  work  of  those  authorities,  and  then,  when  they  have  need  of 
the  wherewithal  to  pay  for  it,  they  only  ask  the  proceeds  of  their  own  estate,  and  it  is  re 
fused  !  As  if  it  were  not  enough  to  rob,  the  insatiate  appetite  calls  for  the  blood  of  its  vic 
tims  !  The  unnatural  parent  strangles  her  own  children  !  Does  not  every  one  know,  that 
the  States  can  not  subsist,  unless  they  are  relieved  ?  And  what  power  stands  in  the  way  of 
their  relief,  but  the  Federal  Government  ?  And  by  what  means  is  it  done,'  but  by  wrong  ? 
Have  we  not  reason  to  fear  a  power,  that  is  so  fraudulently,  so  oppressively,  so  tyrannically 
exercised — whose  tender  mercies  are  cruelty  ?  Crying  "  Stale  Rights,"  they  rob  the  States 
of  their  dearest  rights  !  Preaching  «  Democracy,"  they  wield  the  most  hateful  power  of 
kings  !  It  was  by  the  munificence  of  the  States,  that  the  Federal  Government  was  enabled 
to  stand,  and  the  prodigal  gifts,  bestowed  in  the  form  of  a  trust,  are  employed  to  crush  the 
givers ! 

§  34.   The  Unity  of  the  Union. 

One  would  think,  that  they  who  deal  in  abstractions,  had  discovered  at  last,  how  every 
State  of  this  Union  can  be  utterly  ruined,  and  the  United  States  be  in  a  prosperous  condi 
tion — that  just  in  proportion  as  the  States  are  in  debt,  in  trouble,  and  perishing,  the  United 
States  are  enriched,  happy,  and  farther  removed  from  danger  !  How  is  it  possible  otherwise 
to  account  for  their  persistance  in  an  apparent  determination  to  crush  the  States,  by  an  obsti 
nate  refusal  to  consider  their  helpless  condition,  and  do  an  act  of  simple  justice  ?  But  the 
fact  is,  and  must  necessarily  be  so,  that  the  non-indebted  States  sympathize,  politically  and 
commercially,  with  the  distressed  condition  of  the  indebted  States,  and  this  effect  is  unavoid 
able,  by  the  nature  of  their  alliance  and  companionship.  If  one  suffers,  all  suffer.  They 
are  all  at  sea  in  the  same  boat,  and  if  half  go  down,  they  must  all  go,  unless,  peradventure, 
the  stronger  shall  throw  the  weaker  overboard,  and  even  then  it  would  be  difficult  to  cut  the 
ties  which  bind  them  together.  And  what  is  this  thing  called  the  United  States,  that  it  should 
lift  up  its  head  on  high,  take  on  itself  such  airs  of  independence,  mock  at  the  misery  with 
which  it  is  surrounded,  and  think  itself  not  at  all  concerned  in  it  ? — Has  it  never  considered, 
that  it  is  only  a  head,  resting  on  the  shoulders  of  a  body  ? — that  it  partakes  of  the  same  vi 
tality,  is  nourished  by  the  same  aliments,  breathes  the  same  air,  in  the  use  of  common  or 
gans,  and  is  nothing,  and  can  do  nothing,  without  the  body  ? — that  its  pride,  glory,  and 
power,  are  sustained,  and  its  purse  supplied,  by  the  hands  and  arms,  the  muscles  and  sinews, 
on  which  it  looks  down  ? — that  in  the  pains  of  the  body,  itself  must  suffer,  and  if  the  body 
dies,  itself  will  die  ?  That  abstraction  of  mind,  which  revels  in  dreams  and  visions,  may  do 
very  well  for  a  philosopher  in  his  closet,  who  chooses  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  world, 
and  whc  could  blame  nobody  else,  and  possibly  might  hurt  nobody  else,  if,  in  some  fatal  ex- 

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periment,  he  should  blow  himself  up  theie.  But,  to  sever  a  head  from  a  trunk,  without  harm, 
is  a  nicer  operation  than  surgical  skill  has  yet  attained  to.  But,  this  thing,  caDed  the  United 
Slates,  seems  to  think  it  possible  for  the  head  to  live  independent  of  the  body  ! 

§  35.  A  blind  and  heartless  National  Policy. 

Nothing  could  be  more  stolid,  than  that  Federal  policy,  which,  sets  up  the  theory,  and  act* 
on  it,  that  the  Federal  Government  has  nothing  to  do,  but  to  take  care  of  itself.  It  is  alike 
unpatriotic  and  treasonable  to  a  high,  most  responsible,  and  vastly  comprehensive  trust. 
They  who  separate  the  interests  of  the  Union  from  those  of  the  States,  undertake  to  perform 
a  miracle  ;  and  those  in  power,  who  say,  let  the  people  take  care  of  themselves,  and  the  Gov 
ernment  will  take  care  of  itself,  are  Sub-treasury  men,  and  fit  only  for  a  despotism.  They 
have  no  heart,  and  no  sympathy  for  the  common  lot  of  mankind.  Most  of  all  are  they  unfit 
for  a  democratic  state  of  society,  and  most  unfriendly  to  it. 

§  36.   The  Principle  of  Sub- Treasury. 

That  is  what  holds  on  so  tightly  to  the  public  lands  as  Federal  property.  It  seeks,  in  all 
manner  of  forms,  to  strengthen  Federal  power,  at  the  expense  of  the  States,  and  to  the  in 
jury  of  all  minor  interests.  The  earliest  and  most  remarkable  instance  of  Swi-treasury  in 
history,  and  the  most  graphic  picture  of  the  system,  is  found  in  the  47th  chapter  of  Genesis, 
from  the  15th  to  the  26th  verses,  under  which  the  treasury  of  Pharaoh  first  swallowed  up  all 
the  money  of  the  people  ;  next,  their  cattle  were  taken  ;  then,  their  lands  ;  and  last  of  all, 
they  sold  themselves  into  perpetual  bondage,  to  render  to  Pharaoh,  in  perpetuity,  (me  fifth  of 
tlic  products  of  their  labor;  and  they  remained  in  slavery  for  ever  afterward.  When  Spain 
exhausted  the  mines  of  South  America,  and  in  the  end  drew  forth  more  than  a  thousand  mil 
lions  of  bullion  into  the  royal  coffers,  it  was  all  done  by  swfc-treasurers,  while  the  people  were 
taxed,  worn  out,  and  kept  under.  £i<5-treasurers  are  always  in  favor  of  direct  taxation,  and 
that  is  the  only  way  to  maintain  the  system.  Rome  was  free  till  the  system  of  s?*6-treasury 
was  introduced.  So  was  it  in  Greece.  So  has  it  been  in  every  country  that  has  lost  its 
freedom.  The  peculiarity  of  a  sw£-treasury  system  is,  to  separate  the  Government  from  the 
people,  to  raise  it  above  them,  to  make  it  independent,  and  to  make  the  people  dependent — 
slaves.  There  is  no  sympathy  between  the  parties,  but  a  necessary  and  perpetual  hostility 
of  interests.  The  doctrine  of  true  democracy  is,  that  what  is  good  enough  for  the  people,  is 
good  enough  for  their  governors  ;  that  the  currency  which  will  do  for  one  party,  must  answer 
for  the  other;  that  direct  taxation  should  be  a  last,  and  only  a  necessary  resort;  and  that 
government  has  no  rights  except  such  as  are  derived  from  the  people,  and  is  set  up  to  serve 
the  people,  not  to  be  served  by  them. 

§  37.   The  Obligations  of  Patriotism. 

We  dislike  to  give  a  reason  for  doing  an  act  of  justice  that  is  foreign  to  its  claims.  But 
here  is  the  remarkable  spectacle  of  a  number  of  the  States  of  this  Union,  with  a  mill-stone 
about  their  necks,  tied  on  in  the  way  and  by  an  agency  as  we  have  described,  hanging  over 
an  abyss,  and  if  they  fall  in,  are  sure  to  carry  with  them  all  the  other  States  and  the  United 
Stales.  They  can  not  be  ruined  alone,  but  will  have  companionship  in  their  fall.  When  the 
States  which  were  possessed  of  the  public  lands  by  charter  rights,  saw  it  was  necessary  to 
divide  the  interest  with  the  other  States,  who  were  fighting  side  by  side  with  them  for  frfe- 
dom  and  for  this  great  estate,  and  when  they  saw  it  was  necessary  to  bind  the  sacrifice  on 
the  altar  of  the  patriotism  of  that  day,  they  did  so,  and  left  it  in  charge  of  the  Agents  of  the 
Confederation,  pledged  to  redeem  the  debts  of  the  war,  and  then  to  be  used  for  the  common 
good  of  the  parties,  who  carried  the  nation  through  the  struggle  by  their  joint  efforts  and 
sacrifices,  and  of  such  other  members  of  the  family  as  might  come  in  afterward.  It  was  a 
great,  generous,  noble,  patriotic  sacrifice — worthy  of  the  men  and  of  the  time.  After  the 
war,  as  soon  as  the  debts  of  the  States  and  the  nation  could  be  conveniently  ascertained,  they 
were  found  to  be  about  eighty  millions  of  dollars,  on  about  three  millions  of  people,  with  an 
annual  revenue  from  all  quarters  of  less  than  two  millions  and  a  half!  In  this  position  of  the 
Confederacy,  the  public  lands,  which  had  been  so  generously  given  up  for  this  object,  and 
only  for  this,  were  the  pledge  and  anchor  of  public  credit.  Put  for  this,  there  is  reason  to 
believe  that  the  Republic,  so  loosely  bound  together,  though  victorious,  would  have  been 
dissolved  into  worthless  fragments.  At  the  close  of  the  second  war  with  Great  Britain,  we 
shouldered  a  public  debt  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  millions,  and  paid  it  all  off  in  sevez- 
teen  years.  But  now,  with  no  national  debt  worthy  to  speak  of,  with  eighteen  million?  of 
people,  with  capabilities  and  resources  unlimited,  with  from  thirty  to  forty  millions  of  revenue 
by  imposts,  with  a  land  revenue,  soon  to  rise  perhaps  to  ten  millions,  and  with  an  annual 
expense  of  Government  not  exceeding  twenty  millions,  we  dare  not  look  in  the  face  a  debt  of 
some  two  hundred  millions,  which  happens  to  be  saddled  chiefly  on  about  half  of  the  States! 
Approach  it  we  must,  or  it  will  come  to  us.  There  is  no  escape,  nor  should  patriotism  desire 
ft.  For  the  most  part,  we  have  had  the  quid  pro  quo,  and  are  every  day  reaping  the  benefit 

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of  it.  This  quid  pro  quo,  take  it  as  a  whole,  and  properly  used,  is  itself  well  nigh,  if  not 
quite,  sufficient  to  pay  the  debt.  So  far  as  it  consists  in  public  improvements,  the  national 
benefit  is  incalculable,  and  the  chief  one.  [See  General  Jackson's  Message  of  1830.]  In  a 
time  of  war,  it  might,  and  very  probably  would  happen,  that  their  worth  for  national  uses, 
ia  the  movements  of  armies,  artillery,  ammunition,  and  baggage,  and  in  maintaining  an  easy 
and  rapid  communication  between  our  public  marine  on  the  Atlantic  and  on  the  lakes  and 
rivers,  would  exceed  the  entire  cost  of  them  all.  But  no  matter  for  that.  Their  national 
value  in  a  time  of  peace  is  immense.  Nor  is  even  this  worthy  of  consideration,  if  we  look  at 
the  justice  of  the  claim.  The  public  lands  saved  the  nation  once,  and  carried  a  far  heavie*, 
many  times  heavier  debt,  in  proportion  to  our  population  and  means,  than  that  which  they 
are  now  invoked  to  be  pledged  for ;  and  it  happens  that  they  are  the  property  of  the  present 
debtors ;  whereas,  in  the  former  case,  the  owners — now  the  debtors  requiring  relief,  but  still 
owners — freely  gave  them  up,  for  a  season,to  pay  the  debts  of  others,  and  pledged  them  to  the 
last  farthing.  The  object  was  finally  accomplished ;  but  the  Trustee,  having  taken  a  liking 
to  the  charge,  chooses  to  hold  on  to  it,  and  to  use  the  avails  by  fraud,  while  the  lawful  pro 
prietors  are  sinking  under  bankruptcy !  Oh,  patriotism  !  whither  art  thou  fled  ? 

§  38.  The  Discouraging  and  Ruinous  Effect  of  Commercial  Dishonor  in  a  Staie  or 

Nation. 

"  Private  credit  is  wealth ;  public  honor  is  security.  The  feather  that  adorns  the  royal 
bird,  secures  him  in  his  flight.  Pluck  him  of  his  plumage,  and  you  fix  him  to  the  earth." 

The  plumes  which  the  world  had  allowed  to  stand  in  our  cap,  and  which  the  world  had 
admired,  have  been  plucked  and  trampled  under  foot.  While  other  nations  can  borrow  money 
at  3  per  cent.,  a  public  agent  of  our  Government  returned  from  Europe  a  year  ago,  having 
been  everywhere  refused  a  loan  at  6  per  cent.  No  nation  that  has  claimed  and  been 
permitted  to  stand  up  on  a  footing  of  equality  with -the  family  of  nations,  in  honor,  credit, 
influence,  and  power,  can  stand  a  repulse  of  this  description.  It  is  a  blow  that  strikes  all 
and  everything  that  belongs  to  us.  "  It  fixes  us  to  the  earth."  Abroad,  our  citizens  are 
forced  to  blush  at  what  they  see  and  hear.  Once  courted  and  cherished  in  foreign  parts, 
they  are  now  shunned,  and  the  finger  of  scorn  is  pointed  at  them.  At  nome  we  are  ashamed, 
and  filled  with  self-reproach.  And  what  is  the  cause  ?  IT  is  BECAUSE  or  THESE  STATE 
BEBTS.  State  bonds  have  been  protested,  and  some  have  been  REPUDIATED,  by  State 
authorities  ! 

Besides  the  mortification,  the  dishonor  operates  more  to  our  commercial  disadvantage  as 
a  nation,  in  a  single  year,  than  the  whole  amount  of  the  debt.  As  it  is  with  an  individual 
who  has  lost  his  credit,  so  is  it  with  a  nation.  Neither  can  trade,  but  with  great  sacrifice, 
directly  and  indirectly.  In  Senate  Document,  No.  340,  2d  session,  27th  Congress,  it  is 
shown,  that  our  domestic  trade  amounts  to  $2,000,000,000  (two  billions)  a  year,  and  our 
foreign  trade,  including  exports  and  imports,  rarely  falls  below  $200,000.000.  It  is  stated, 
in  House  Document  No.  296,  3d  session,  27th  Congress,  that  at  that  time,  we  were 
losing,  in  prices  and  by  a  bad  currency,  an  average  of  20  per  cent,  on  the  whole  of  our  trade. 
Abate  this  lossfifty  per  cent.,  or  one  half,  and  can  it  be  doubted  that,  in  our  peculiar  position 
of  bad  credit,  and  in  the  embarrassments  arising  therefrom  at  home  and  abroad,  the  loss  on 
%  whole  of  our  trade  ($2,200,000,000)  would  average  10  per  cent.  ?  If  such  be  the  fact, 
the  entire  loss  amounts  to  two  hundred  and  twenty  millions  annually,  being  twenty  millions  in 
excess  of  the  whole  amount  of  the  State  debts !  In  addition  to  this,  we  are  paying  50  per 
eent.  more  interest  on  our  debt,  than  would  be  demanded  of  us,  if  our  credit  were  good, 
which  is  equal  to  a  funded  debt  of  a  hundred  millions  at  a  fair  per  cent.  There  is  yet  another 
consideration  in  the  decline  of  the  value  of  all  kinds  of  property,  through  which  the  country 
has  passed,  and  which  can  hardly  be  estimated  for  the  vastness  of  the  amount.  [See  Tract 
No.  II,  page  16.]  Such  are  the  commercial  disadvantages  resulting  from  the  dishonored 
credit  of  a  nation. 

§  39.  Mr.  Clay's  and  Mr.  Van  Burerfs  position  in  regard  to  Distribution. 
As  certain  as  Mr.  Clay  is  in  favor  of  Distribution,  so  certain  is  it,  that  Mr.  Van  Buren 
would  veto  any  measure  of  the  kind,  however  strong  and  decided  might  be  the  wishes  of  the 
people,  or  the  vote  of  Congress  in  its  favor.  The  people  of  this  country,  therefore,  who  feel 
the  importance  of  this  great  national  measure,  will  be  aware  of  the  importance  of  their  vote 
at  the  approaching  Presidential  Election.  Nor  is  it  less  certain  that  the  Tariff  would  be 
sacrificed  by  Mr.  Van  Buren  and  his  party,  if  they  should  ever  have  it  in  their  power.  These 
two  great  and  vital  measures,  on  w,hich  hangs  the  weal  or  wo  of  this  country,  according  as 
they  shall  be  maintained  or  "destroyed,  are  the  great  stake  of  the  coming  contest.  Others  of 
vast,  and  many  of  less  impoVtah>ce,.are  also  at  stake ;  but  none  so  momentous  as  these.  The 
question  before  the  nation,  is — SHALL  THE  LONG -PROTRACTED  DESTRUCTIVE  DYNASTY  BE 

RESTORED,   OR   SHALL  THE  REPUBLIC  BE   SAVED? 

128 


EXTRACTS  FROM  NOTICES  OF  THE  PRESS. 

THE  FOLLOWING  are  a  few  EXTRACTS  from  the  numerous  notices  that  have  been  given  of 
the  JUNIUS  TRACTS  by  the  public  press : — 

From  the  New  York  Tribune. 

THE  TEST. — "  We  are  sure,  that  the  Whigs  of  the  Union  will  rejoice  with  us  to  learn,  that 
JUNIUS,  the  able  author  of  "  The  Crisis  of  the  Country"  and  other  powerful  and  convincing 
essays,  widely  circulated  during  the  late  Presidential  contest,  has,  at  the  request  of  the  Whig 
Members  of  the  last  Congress,  resumed  his  labors  in  the  same  field,  and  will  prepare  a 
series  of  political  pamphlets  on  the  several  chief  topics  in  controversy  between  the  rival 
parties,  to  be  afforded  at  the  lowest  possible  price  for  gratuitous  circulation.  The  first 
is  entitled  THE  TEST,  or  Parties  tried  by  their  acts.  There  is  no  other  writer  in  the  land  who 
could  have  crowded  so  much  matter  into  16  pages. " 

THE  CURRENCY.—"  This  is  an  able  and  most  forcible  summary  of  the  whole  Currency 
controversy  of  the  last  twelve  years,  exhibiting  the  positions  of  the  two  parties,  hitherto, 
now,  and  hereafter.  As  an  argument  for  a  National  Currency,  of  Specie  and  Paper  every 
where  convertible  into  Specie,  it  has  not  been  surpassed.  It  is  admirable,  especially  for  its 
power  of  condensation,  and  the  vigorous  simplicity  with  which  the  Whig  views  are  presented." 

THE  TARIFF. — "It  is  ably,- closely,  pithily  written,  and  condenses  a  large  amount  of  argu 
ment,  fact,  and  apposite  illustration,  into  the  small  compass  of  sixteen  closely  printed  pages. 
It  is  so  plain  that  no  man  can  read  without  comprehending  it ;  so  forcible  that  none  can  un 
derstand  without  being  impressed  by  it.     This  Tract  ought  to  be,  must  be  generally  circulated." 
From  the  National  Intelligencer. 

"The  Whigs  of  the  Union  will  remember  'The  Crisis  of  the  Country,  by  Junius,'  so 
tensively  circulated  in  1840,  and  will  be  glad  to  learn,  that  JUNIUS  is  in  the  field  again  tor 
1844,  with  the  purpose  of  bringing  out  a  series  of  Tracts  on  the  leading  questions  in  contro 
versy  between  the  two  great  parties.  The  amount  of  information  embodied  in  16  pages 
will  surprise  the  reader.  It  comprehends  volumes  of  facts,  principally  deduced  from  authentic 
public  documents,  evincing  great  and  pertinent  research.  It  is  generally  the  kind  of  infor 
mation,  which  the  people  most  require.  The  facts  will  all  be  recognised;  but,  in  the 
isolated  forms  in  which  the  same  facts  have  been  presented  to  the  public,  their  effect  lias 
been  slight  and  evanescent.  But  in  the  manner  of  their  grouping  here,  they  are  overwhelm 
ing  for  the  object  intended." 

From  the  Albany  Evening  Journal. 

"  This  admirable  and  effective  series  of  Tracts  from  <  Junius,'  the  ablest  political  writer 
of  the  day,  are  all  of  the  same  size,  in  16  closely  printed  pages,  costing  only  $20  a  thousand, 
or  two  cents  a  piece,  prepared  with  great  labor,  expressly  for  distribution  among  the  people. 
This  mode  of  operation  by  Tracts,  is  a  new  system  in  politics,  and  may  be  made  all  powerful. 
Put  facts  before  the  people,  such  as  Junius  has  collected  and  arranged,  and  they  will  pre 
vail.  We  desire  that  the  Whigs  of  this  State,  and  of  the  Union,  may  be  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  this  new  agency.  We  are  told  that  not  less  than  a  million  of  «  The  Crisis  of 
ihe  Country,  by  Junius,'  were  used  in  1840,  and  their  influence  was  prodigious.  As  it  was 
chiefly  made  up  of  facts,  it  was  used  as  a  text-bo6k  by  politicians  and  stump  orators  all  over 
the  land,  at  the  same  time  that  it  was  in  the  hands  of  the  people." 
From  the  New  York  Courier  and  Enquirer. 

"  Junius  Redivivus  is  out  again  in  a  way  that  must  be  most  acceptable  to  the  Whig 
party All  the  Tracts  of  Junius  are  admirably  calculated  for  popular  effect  by  enlighten 
ing  the  public  mind  with  a  simple  array  of  facts  in  the  most  economical  mode The 

mass,  we  might  say,  the  volumes  of  information  given  in  these  Tracts,  so  powerfully  con 
densed,  and  so  admirably  adapted,  as  they  are  for  the  people,  for  all,  is  almost  incredible." 

From  the  New  Orleans  See. 

"  These  little  pamphlets  are  working  infinite  good,  to  the  Whig  cause,  and  we  observe 
with  pleasure,  that  they  are  becoming  the  standard  publications  among  our  party." 


REDUCTION  OF  PRICE. 

Being  advised  that  it  will  be  acceptable  to  the  Whig  public,  and  likely 
to  afford  a  wider  circulation  of  the  Junius  Tracts,  the  author  has  con 
cluded  to  reduce  the  price  from  $2  50  cents  a  hundred,  and  $20  a  thou 
sand,  as  first  fixed,  to  FIFTEEN  DOLLARS  A  THOUSAND,  which  will  be 
the  price  at  the  publishing  office  during  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1844, 
to  all  who  order  them  in  separate  numbers. 

The  price  of  the  Series,  to  the  book  trade,  consisting  of  eight  numbers 
bound  together,  comprising  128  pages,  will  be  $16  a  hundred,  which,  re 
tailed  at  25  cents  a  copy,  affords,  as  will  be  seen,  more  than  the  usual 
profit  to  the  trade. 

New  York,  April  15,  1844. 


CITY  or  WASHINGTON,  MARCH  4,  1843. 

We,  the  undersigned,  impressed  with  a  conviction  of  the  importance  and  effectiveness 
of  Tracts,  as  a  means  of  informing  the  people  in  matters  appertaining  to  our  national  inter- 
ests,  and  of  the  suitable  qualifications  of  JUNIUS,  author  of  «  THE  CRISIS  OF  THE  COUNTRY," 
and  of  other  papers  emanating  from  his  pen  in  1840,  the  wide  circulation  and  great  useful 
ness  of  which,  at  that  time,  are  well  known  to  the  public,  hereby  express  the  hope,  that  he 
may  be  able  to  renew  his  labors  of  the  same  kind  for  the  coming  contest  of  1844;  and  we 
earnestly  recommend  to  our  Whig  friends,  and  to  Whig  Associations  throughout  the  Union, 
to  second  his  efforts,  if  undertaken. 

MlLLARD  FlLLMORE,  J-  H.  CRAVENS, 

SENATORS.  JoHN  MAYNARD,  J.  T.  STUART, 

W.  P.  MANGUM/-  President.  W.  H.  WASHINGTON,  A.  H.  H.  STUART, 

J  J.  CRITTENDEN,  ROGER  L.  GAMBLE,  A.  RANDALL, 

J.  T.  MOREHEAD,  B.  S.  COWAN,  G-  W.  SUMMERS, 

N.  P.  TALLMADGE,  JOHN  xMooRE,  C.  H.  WILLIAMS, 

WM.  S.  ARCHER,  R.  W.  THOMPSON,  ALFRED  BABCOCK, 

SAMUEL  S.  PHELPS,  L.  W.  ANDREWS,  A.  L.  FOSTER, 

J.  W.  MILLER,  T.  W.  TOMLINSON,  R.  L.  CARUTHERS, 

C.  M.  CONRAD,  GARRETT  DAVIS,  MILTON  BROWN, 

J.  F.  SIMMONS,  GEO.  B.  RODNEY,  J.  M.  RUSSELL, 

J.  LEEDS  KERR.  H.  S.  LANE,  THOS.  HENRY, 

JNO.  EDWARDS,  J.  R-  UNDERWOOD, 

REPRESENTATIVES.      AuG.  YOUNG,  J.  A.  PEARGE, 

JOHN  WHITE,  Speaker.  Jos.  TRUMBULL,  EDWARD  STANLEY, 

THOS.  BUTLER  KING,  J.  R.  INGERSOLL,  J.  C.  CLARK. 


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